以偏概全

yǐpiān-gàiquán
idiom #49,744

Meanings

  1. 1 to take a part for the whole (idiom)
  2. 2 to overgeneralize from a single instance

Examples

HSK 2
Bùnéng yīnwèi yīgè rén jiù yǐpiāngàiquán, shuō suǒyǒurén dōu zhèyàng.
You can't overgeneralize from one person and say everyone is like this.
HSK 7-9
Zhèzhǒng yǐpiāngàiquán de jiélùn jīngbuqǐ tuīqiāo.
Such overgeneralized conclusions don't hold up under scrutiny.

Tips

mistakes
Near-synonymous with 断章取义 ('take out of context'), but different: 以偏概全 is a logical error (part → whole), while 断章取义 is selective quotation. Don't swap them.

Stroke Order

piān
gài
quán