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弄巧成拙

nòngqiǎochéngzhuō
idiom #33,037

Meanings

  1. 1 to try to be clever and end up looking foolish
  2. 2 to overreach oneself
  3. 3 to make matters worse by being too clever

Examples

他想抄近路，结果弄巧成拙，迟到了半小时。
Tā xiǎng chāo jìnlù, jiéguǒ nòngqiǎochéngzhuō, chídào le bàn xiǎoshí.
He tried to take a shortcut and ended up half an hour late — clever plan, dumb result.
本来想给妈妈惊喜，没想到弄巧成拙吓到了她。
Běnlái xiǎng gěi māma jīngxǐ, méi xiǎngdào nòngqiǎochéngzhuō xià dào le tā.
He meant to surprise mum but the plan backfired and scared her instead.
修图修过头反而弄巧成拙。
Xiūtú xiū guòtóu fǎn'ér nòngqiǎochéngzhuō.
Over-editing the photo made it worse, not better.

Tips

memory
弄巧 = trying to be clever; 成拙 = becoming clumsy. The smart move ends up dumb.
history
Coined by Song poet 黄庭坚 in 《拙轩颂》: 弄巧成拙，为蛇画足 — overreaching for cleverness is like adding feet to a snake.

Stroke Order

弄 nòng
巧 qiǎo
成 chéng
拙 zhuō