Dictionary › 美中不足

美中不足

měi zhōng bù zú

HSK 3.0 level 7-9 4-character word

美中不足 (měi zhōng bù zú) means "everything is fine except for one small defect (idiom); the fly in the ointment". It is an HSK 3.0 level 7-9 word, and was not on the old six-level HSK list.

What 美中不足 means

1. everything is fine except for one small defect (idiom); the fly in the ointment

The characters in 美中不足

• 美měibeautiful; very satisfactory; good; to beautify
• 中zhōngwithin; among; in; middle; center; while (doing sth); during
• 不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-
• 足zú(bound form) foot; leg; sufficient; ample; as much as; fully

Example sentences

• 唯一美中不足的是如果它要是熟食就好了。
  Wéiyī měizhōngbùzú de shì rúguǒ tā yàoshi shúshí jiù hǎo le.
  The only thing that would have made it better is if it was cooked.
• 那家馆子物美价廉，美中不足的是他们糟糕的位置。
  Nà jiā guǎnzi wù měi jià lián, měi zhōng bù zú de shì tāmen zāogāo de wèizhi.
  That place's food is delicious and their prices are low. However, their location isn't good.
• 这张桌子不错，不过有一个美中不足的地方 ﹣ 我的房间放不下它。
  Zhè zhāng zhuōzi bù cuò, bùguò yǒu yī gè měizhōngbùzú de dìfang ﹣ wǒ de fángjiān fàngbuxià tā.
  This table is fine except in one respect - it will not fit into my room.

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read měi zhōng bù zú correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.