不可多得

bùkěduōdé

idiom #32,306

Meanings

1 rare and hard to come by
2 not easily obtained
3 a rare find

Characters

able to; possible

Examples

她是一位不可多得的人才。

Tā shì yī wèi bùkěduōdé de réncái.

She is a rare talent.

这是一个不可多得的好机会。

Zhè shì yī gè bùkěduōdé de hǎo jīhuì.

This is a rare, precious opportunity.

Tips

history

From Wang Chong's (王充) Han-dynasty 《论衡·超奇篇》: '譬珠玉不可多得，以其珍也' — it is like pearls and jade, not easy to come by, precious because they are scarce. The idiom carries that scarcity-equals-value logic.

Stroke Order

不 bù

可 kě

多 duō

得 dé