弄巧成拙

nòngqiǎo-chéngzhuō
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

HSK 4
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.
HSK 6
Běnlái xiǎng gěi māma jīngxǐ, méixiǎngdào nòngqiǎochéngzhuō xià dào le tā.
He meant to surprise mum but the plan backfired and scared her instead.
HSK 7-9
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

nòng
qiǎo
chéng
zhuō