Dictionary › 饮鸩止渴

饮鸩止渴

yǐn zhèn zhǐ kě

4-character word Traditional 飲鴆止渴

What 饮鸩止渴 means

1. lit. drinking poison in the hope of quenching one's thirst (idiom)
2. fig. a supposed remedy that only makes matters worse

The characters in 饮鸩止渴

• 饮yǐnto drink
• 鸩zhènlegendary bird whose feathers can be used as poison; poisonous; to poison sb
• 止zhǐto stop; to prohibit; until
• 渴kěthirsty