得不償失 (dak1 bat1 soeng4 sat1 | de2 bu4 chang2 shi1) : (saying) the gains cannot make up for the losses; the losses outweigh the gains

Remove Adverts and gain lots of extra features
What is this page showing me?

得不償失

dak1 bat1 soeng4 sat1

de2 bu4 chang2 shi1

(saying) the gains cannot make up for the losses; the losses outweigh the gains

Level: 3 Google Frequency: 852,000

This term is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.

得不償失 / 得不偿失

This word has been viewed 2019 times since 30th Oct 2012, was added by tym on 14th May 2005 04:40 and last edited on 30th Oct 2008 19:03

Output this word as a high resolution image

Characters in this word:

得 dak1 - get; obtain; fit; finished; able to; must
不 bat1 - not; no; un-
償 soeng4 - repay; payment; fulfill
失 sat1 - mistake; omission; lose; neglect

* The simplified equivalent of this word has not been verified by any editors, so it may not be fully accurate *

Forum Code to link to this word:
[big][url=http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/8683/]得不償失[/url][/big]
HTML Code to link to this word:
<a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/8683/" class="chinesemed" target="_blank">得不償失</a>
Decimal representation of this word: 得不償失

Search CantoDict (safe search is on)

Please note, CantoDict currently supports searching for Simplified Chinese, but results will be returned in Traditional Chinese.

Hide Written and Spoken Hide Written 國 Hide Spoken粵

This page shows, from top to bottom:

a large version of the word in a traditional script font which you may need to install

: the Cantonese pronunciation of the word in jyutping. Also, CantoDict uses a unique "asterisk (*)" convention, to show readings such as jyu^4*2. For more information please see CantoDict Tone Conventions.

: the Mandarin pronunciation of the word in pinyin (only if present).
the meaning of the word, typed in by our volunteer editors
guidelines on whether the word can only be used in Spoken Cantonese etc (if nothing is present the word may be used in both Cantonese and Mandarin)
our arbitrarily assigned difficulty level
a smaller version of the character in a computerised, printed font
a list of each of the characters for the word, showing jyutping and meaning (if our dictionary contains that character)

this thread


Characters \| Words \| Sentences \| Chinese Translation \| Chinese Tests \| Forums \| Search Customise CantoDict \| My Vocab Lists \| Useful Reports and Stats \| CantoDict Forum

Characters in this word:

*** The simplified equivalent of this word has not been verified by any editors, so it may not be fully accurate ***

* The simplified equivalent of this word has not been verified by any editors, so it may not be fully accurate *