相去甚远

相去甚遠
xiāngqùshènyuǎn
idiom #36,817

Meanings

  1. 1 to differ greatly
  2. 2 to be far apart
  3. 3 worlds apart

Examples

Lǐlùn hé shíjiàn xiāngqùshènyuǎn.
Theory and practice are worlds apart.
Zhè liǎng fèn bàogào de jiélùn xiāngqùshènyuǎn.
The conclusions of these two reports differ enormously.

Tips

usage
相去甚远 is a four-character set phrase used to compare two things abstractly — opinions, results, standards, ideals vs reality. Pattern: A / B 相去甚远 ('A and B are worlds apart'). Slightly literary; common in editorials and academic writing.
grammar
Parse it as ('mutual distance') + ('very') + ('far'). The literary ('extremely') gives the phrase its formal flavor; the everyday equivalent would be (chà de hěn yuǎn).

Stroke Order

xiāng
shèn
yuǎn