画虎不成反类犬

畫虎不成反類犬

huàhǔbùchéngfǎnlèiquǎn

idiom

Meanings

1 trying to paint a tiger but ending up with a dog
2 to overreach and produce something laughable
3 to botch an imitation

Characters

to paint / draw

on the contrary

Examples

硬要模仿名家，结果画虎不成反类犬。

Yìng yào mófǎng míngjiā, jiéguǒ huà hǔ bù chéng fǎn lèi quǎn.

He insisted on imitating the masters and ended up painting a tiger that looked like a dog.

动作学个一半就上台，画虎不成反类犬。

Dòngzuò xué ge yībàn jiù shàng tái, huà hǔ bù chéng fǎn lèi quǎn.

Half-learning the moves before going onstage — a tiger that ended up looking like a dog.

风格要慢慢磨，否则很容易画虎不成反类犬。

Fēnggé yào mànmàn mó, fǒuzé hěn róngyì huà hǔ bù chéng fǎn lèi quǎn.

Style takes time to cultivate; rush it and you'll paint a tiger that looks like a dog.

Tips

history

Cited in 唐·刘知幾《史通·六家》, the Tang historiographer's critique of derivative historians. The variant 画虎不成反类狗 appears even earlier in 《后汉书·马援传》, where the general Ma Yuan warns his nephews not to imitate a show-off, lest they paint a tiger and end up with a dog.

Stroke Order

画 huà

虎 hǔ

不 bù

成 chéng

反 fǎn

类 lèi

犬 quǎn