Chinese Chengyu Dictionary
A dictionary of chengyu, the four-character Chinese idioms. Search by expression, character or pinyin.
| Chengyu | Pinyin | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 熬肠刮肚 | áo cháng guā dù | Translation not yet available |
| 熬更守夜 | áo gēng shǒu yè | to stay up through the night (idiom) |
| 熬姜呷醋 | áo jiāng xiā cù | Translation not yet available |
| 熬清守淡 | áo qīng shǒu dàn | Translation not yet available |
| 熬心费力 | áo xīn fèi lì | Translation not yet available |
| 傲不可长 | ào bù kě zhǎng | Translation not yet available |
| 傲骨嶙嶙 | ào gǔ lín lín | Translation not yet available |
| 傲慢不逊 | ào màn bù xùn | Translation not yet available |
| 傲慢少礼 | ào màn shǎo lǐ | Translation not yet available |
| 傲睨得志 | ào nì dé zhì | Translation not yet available |
| 傲睨万物 | ào nì wàn wù | Translation not yet available |
| 傲睨一世 | ào nì yī shì | Translation not yet available |
| 傲睨自若 | ào nì zì ruò | Translation not yet available |
| 傲然屹立 | ào rán yì lì | Translation not yet available |
| 傲世轻物 | ào shì qīng wù | Translation not yet available |
| 傲霜斗雪 | ào shuāng dòu xuě | Translation not yet available |
| 傲头傲脑 | ào tóu ào nǎo | Translation not yet available |
| 傲贤慢士 | ào xián màn shì | Translation not yet available |
| 傲雪凌霜 | ào xuě líng shuāng | Translation not yet available |
| 傲雪欺霜 | ào xuě qī shuāng | Translation not yet available |
| 奥妙无穷 | ào miào wú qióng | Translation not yet available |
| 懊悔无及 | ào huǐ wú jí | Translation not yet available |
| 八百孤寒 | bā bǎi gū hán | Translation not yet available |
| 八拜之交 | bā bài zhī jiāo | sworn brotherhood; intimate friendship |
| 八斗之才 | bā dǒu zhī cái | Translation not yet available |
| 八方呼应 | bā fāng hū yìng | Translation not yet available |
| 八公山上，草木皆兵 | bā gōng shān shàng cǎo mù jiē bīng | Translation not yet available |
| 八荒之外 | bā huāng zhī wài | Translation not yet available |
| 八街九陌 | bā jiē jiǔ mò | Translation not yet available |
| 八九不离十 | bā jiǔ bù lí shí | pretty close; very near; about right |
| 八面见光 | bā miàn jiàn guāng | Translation not yet available |
| 八面玲珑 | bā miàn líng lóng | be smooth and slick (in establishing social relations) |
| 八面威风 | bā miàn wēi fēng | Translation not yet available |
| 八面莹澈 | bā miàn yíng chè | Translation not yet available |
| 八面圆通 | bā miàn yuán tōng | Translation not yet available |
| 八面张罗 | bā miàn zhāng luo | Translation not yet available |
| 八仙过海，各显神通 | bā xiān guò hǎi gè xiǎn shén tōng | Translation not yet available |
| 八音迭奏 | bā yīn dié zòu | Translation not yet available |
| 八珍玉食 | bā zhēn yù shí | Translation not yet available |
| 八字打开 | bā zì dǎ kāi | Translation not yet available |
Search by Chinese expression, character or pinyin.
The most frequent idioms are also on a separate dictionary page.
12,999 chengyu listed.
What a chengyu is, and what it is not
A chengyu is almost always four characters long, and it is not a proverb. It is a compressed classical phrase that Chinese still uses in ordinary speech and writing: the characters keep an old order and an old meaning, and unpacking them word by word will not give you the sense. That is why looking one up is a different job from looking up a word.
This tool searches the table of idioms by expression, character or pinyin. If you already have the four characters in front of you, that is the way in. If you do not, and you want to see which idioms are common enough to be worth knowing first, the browseable list is the other half of the same subject.