隔靴搔癢
gé​xuē​sāo​yǎng

ineffectual

  • created sense approved 隔靴搔痒/隔靴搔癢 · gé​xuē​sāo​yǎng · ineffectual — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    隔靴搔痒 / 隔靴搔癢

    gé​xuē​sāo​yǎng

    ineffectual

    lit. scratching an itch through one's boot; used to describe an ineffective solution or someone who is way off the mark because they have failed to grasp the core of a problem

    隔 (literal) → 隔 · gé · to separate 靴 (bound) → 靴 · xuē · boots 搔痒 (literal) → 搔痒/搔癢 · sāo​yǎng · to scratch an itch

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense