画 huà
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 田 — field, farm, arable land
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
画蛇添足
huàshétiānzú
to ruin something by overdoing it; gild the lily
Characters in this word
添 tiān
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- 氵 — water
- Made of
- 氵 water 忝 shame, disgrace
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
足 zú
- Strokes
- 7
- Radical
- 足 — foot
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
Example phrases
- 这幅画已经很完整了，再加东西就是画蛇添足。 Zhè fú huà yǐjīng hěn wánzhěng le, zài jiā dōngxi jiù shì huà shé tiān zú. This painting is already complete; adding anything more would be gilding the lily.
- 他的发言本来很精彩，最后那段解释纯属画蛇添足。 Tā de fāyán běnlái hěn jīngcǎi, zuìhòu nà duàn jiěshì chún shǔ huà shé tiān zú. His speech was excellent to begin with; that last explanation was pure overkill.
- 这条短信写得很清楚，你再打电话确认就画蛇添足了。 Zhè tiáo duǎnxìn xiě de hěn qīngchu, nǐ zài dǎ diànhuà quèrèn jiù huà shé tiān zú le. This message is perfectly clear; phoning to confirm would be overdoing it.
Related words
- 画 huà to draw; picture
- 画家 huàjiā artist
- 画儿 huàr picture; drawing
- 图画 túhuà picture; drawing
- 动画片 dònghuàpiàn cartoon
- 画面 huàmiàn image; scene
- 漫画 mànhuà comic
- 绘画 huìhuà to draw, to paint
- 书画 shūhuà calligraphy and painting
- 壁画 bìhuà mural; wall painting
- 画册 huàcè picture album; illustrated catalogue
- 画龙点睛 huàlóngdiǎnjīng to add the finishing touch; make the crucial point