Dictionary › 得不偿失

得不偿失

dé bù cháng shī

Old HSK 6 HSK 3.0 level 7-9 4-character word Traditional 得不償失

得不偿失 (dé bù cháng shī) means "the gains do not make up for the losses (idiom)". It is an HSK 3.0 level 7-9 word, and was HSK 6 in the old six-level list.

What 得不偿失 means

1. the gains do not make up for the losses (idiom)

The characters in 得不偿失

• 得destructural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to…
• 不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-
• 偿chángto repay; to compensate for; to recompense
• 失shīto lose; to miss; to fail

Where 得不偿失 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of HSK 6 Vocabulary · dǎo–dì (HSK 6), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 6 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read dé bù cháng shī correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.