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

harm, lead astray

Examples

HSK 6

他自作聪明，结果聪明反被聪明误。

Tā zìzuòcōngmíng, jiéguǒ cōngmíngfǎnbèicōngmíngwù.

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

HSK 7-9

骗子设计周密，却聪明反被聪明误。

Piànzi shèjì zhōumì, què cōngmíngfǎnbèicōngmíngwù.

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

HSK 7-9

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 cōngmíngfǎnbèicōngmíngwù.

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