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蜻蜓点水

蜻蜓點水
qīngtíngdiǎnshuǐ
idiom #47,564

Meanings

  1. 1 a dragonfly skimming the water
  2. 2 to touch on something only superficially
  3. 3 to skim over the surface

Examples

他对这个问题只是蜻蜓点水般地提了一下。
Tā duì zhège wèntí zhǐshì qīngtíngdiǎnshuǐ bān de tí le yīxià.
He only mentioned this issue in passing, barely scratching the surface.
学习不能蜻蜓点水，要深入钻研。
Xuéxí bùnéng qīngtíngdiǎnshuǐ, yào shēnrù zuānyán.
Studying can't be done superficially — you have to dig in deeply.

Tips

history
From Du Fu's Tang poem 《曲江》: 穿花蛱蝶深深见，点水蜻蜓款款飞 — butterflies vanish into flowers, dragonflies graze the water in slow flight.

Stroke Order

蜻 qīng
蜓 tíng
点 diǎn
水 shuǐ