聪明反被聪明误

聰明反被聰明誤

cōngmíngfǎnbèicōngmíngwù

idiom #39,727

Meanings

1 cleverness undone by cleverness
2 to outsmart oneself
3 one's wit leads to one's own downfall

Characters

instead, on the contrary

by (passive marker)

harm, lead astray

Examples

他自作聪明，结果聪明反被聪明误。

Tā zìzuò cōngmíng, jiéguǒ cōngmíng fǎn bèi cōngmíng wù.

He thought he was being clever, but ended up outsmarting himself.

骗子设计周密，却聪明反被聪明误。

Piànzi shèjì zhōumì, què cōngmíng fǎn bèi cōngmíng wù.

The con man's scheme was elaborate — and was his own undoing.

别以为耍小聪明有好处，小心聪明反被聪明误。

Bié yǐwéi shuǎ xiǎocōngmíng yǒu hǎochu, xiǎoxīn cōngmíng fǎn bèi cōngmíng wù.

Don't think petty tricks pay off — watch out, you'll outsmart yourself.

Tips

history

From Su Shi's poem 《洗儿》: 人皆养子望聪明，我被聪明误一生 — 'Everyone raises a child hoping for cleverness; as for me, cleverness ruined my life.' Written in bitter self-mockery after his career was repeatedly derailed by political exile.

Stroke Order

聪 cōng

明 míng

反 fǎn

被 bèi

误 wù