一知半解

yīzhībànjiě

idiom #35,687

Meanings

1 to have only a superficial knowledge of something
2 to half-understand
3 to know a smattering

Characters

Examples

他对经济学只是一知半解，就乱发表意见。

Tā duì jīngjìxué zhǐshì yīzhībànjiě, jiù luàn fābiǎo yìjiàn.

He has only a superficial grasp of economics, yet freely offers opinions.

别装懂，一知半解比什么都不懂更危险。

Bié zhuāng dǒng, yīzhībànjiě bǐ shénme dōu bù dǒng gèng wēixiǎn.

Don't pretend to understand — half-knowing is more dangerous than not knowing at all.

我对这个软件还是一知半解，需要再学习。

Wǒ duì zhège ruǎnjiàn háishì yīzhībànjiě, xūyào zài xuéxí.

I still only half-understand this software; I need to study it more.

Tips

history

From the Song poetry critic Yan Yu's 《沧浪诗话·诗辨》: "有透彻之悟，有但得一知半解之悟" — there is thorough enlightenment and there is a merely half-knowing enlightenment. Yan Yu used it to distinguish shallow insight from deep understanding.

register

Mildly self-deprecating when applied to yourself ("我只是一知半解"), and pointedly critical when applied to others. Often paired with 装懂 (pretend to understand).

Stroke Order

一 yī

知 zhī

半 bàn

解 jiě