东施效颦

東施效顰

dōngshīxiàopín

idiom

Meanings

1 Dongshi imitates the frown
2 clumsy imitation that produces the opposite effect

Characters

east (i.e. Dongshi, the imitator)

Examples

他学别人的风格，结果东施效颦，闹了笑话。

Tā xué biérén de fēnggé, jiéguǒ dōngshīxiàopín, nào le xiàohua.

He tried to imitate someone else's style and just made himself ridiculous.

别人怎么做你就怎么做，这是东施效颦。

Biérén zěnme zuò nǐ jiù zěnme zuò, zhè shì dōngshīxiàopín.

Copying exactly what others do is a clumsy imitation.

Tips

history

From 《庄子·天运》: Xi Shi (西施), the famous Spring and Autumn beauty, had a heart ailment and looked lovely even while frowning in pain. The ugly woman Dongshi (东施) tried to imitate the frown, but only looked more unappealing — so unappealing that rich neighbors shut their doors and the poor fled with their families.

Stroke Order

东 dōng

施 shī

效 xiào

颦 pín