Chinese chengyu (四字成语) idiom dictionary. 80+ curated idioms with pinyin, meaning, classical origin story, and modern usage example.
Chinese Chengyu Idiom Finder (成语词典)
How to use
Enter a chengyu or keyword
Type the full idiom (画蛇添足), a single character (画), pinyin (huà), or English (snake).
Read the full breakdown
Each entry shows literal meaning, figurative meaning, classical origin story, and modern usage example.
Browse partial matches
Keyword searches return multiple related idioms for comparison.
Learn by random
Hit "Random" each day for a new chengyu — a delightful way to grow your idiom bank.
Chengyu: A Thousand Years of Chinese Wisdom, Compressed
Chengyu (成语) are Chinese four-character fixed expressions, the vast majority sourced from historical anecdotes, fables, and classical literature spanning the Warring States period through the late imperial era. Each chengyu typically compresses an entire narrative or life lesson into four syllables — "画蛇添足" (paint snake add feet) tells the whole story of overdoing a good thing in four characters. This extreme compression is a feature of Chinese unmatched in Indo-European languages.
Chengyu in HSK and modern education
Mastering chengyu is the gateway from intermediate to advanced Chinese: HSK 3 introduces simple idioms, HSK 5-6 tests heavily on them. Mandarin curricula in Singapore (华文), Malaysia, Taiwan (国文), and China (语文) all treat chengyu as required examined content. A typical educated Chinese speaker commands 500-1,000 idioms; a literary one passes 3,000.
Chengyu in Singapore and Malaysian Mandarin
The density of chengyu in SG/MY 华文 writing is lower than in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong — but common chengyu are essential. Business reports, news headlines, and political speeches frequently use phrases like 众所周知 (as is well known), 与时俱进 (move with the times), and 迎难而上 (tackle difficulty head-on). Mastering ~100 core idioms covers most situations.
The 80 idioms in this tool cover the highest-frequency entries from HSK 4-6 plus the "cultural shibboleths" most common in public discourse across the Chinese-speaking world.
10 Facts about Chinese Chengyu
Total chengyu catalogued in Chinese: approximately 50,000 per the Comprehensive Chengyu Dictionary. Common ones: ~5,000. Core high-frequency: ~500.
The idea that chengyu must be exactly 4 characters is a common misconception. They range from 3 to 12 characters, but 4-character forms dominate (~95%).
The oldest chengyu trace back to the Shang-Zhou period (~1000 BCE). Examples like 不知足 (insatiable) and 知足常乐 (contentment brings happiness) come from the Tao Te Ching.
The Records of the Grand Historian (Sima Qian, ~94 BCE) is the single richest source of chengyu — approximately 800 idioms trace to this one book.
Many chengyu feature animal protagonists, reflecting how ancient Chinese observed nature: deer (鹿死谁手), horses (老马识途), foxes (狐假虎威), dragons (画龙点睛).
The May Fourth backlash: Lu Xun, Hu Shi, and other New Culture Movement writers (1910s-20s) opposed overuse of chengyu, seeing them as ossified clichés. Today, however, chengyu remain a core asset of written Chinese.
Singapore 华文 and Taiwan 国文 curricula include 30-40% fewer chengyu than mainland Chinese 语文 — reflecting different educational priorities. Core idioms remain essential everywhere.
Many chengyu include numbers for rhetorical contrast: 一举两得 (1+2), 三心二意 (3+2), 四面楚歌 (4 sides), 五光十色 (5+10), 千变万化 (1000+10000), 万事如意 (10000 things).
Newly-coined chengyu are rare but do exist — e.g. 与时俱进 (move with the times) emerged in the reform-era 1980s-90s. Classical-era idioms still dominate the corpus.
Pairs with RT-CHN-032 (HSK Vocabulary) and RT-CHN-033 (Character Frequency) — the core Chinese-language learning toolset.
Frequently Asked Questions
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80 — curated from high-frequency HSK 4-6 idioms and the cultural shibboleths most common in public discourse. Total Chinese chengyu: ~50,000. Common: ~5,000. Core: ~500.
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Yes. Enter "snake" to find snake-themed idioms, "hua" to find any with hua in the pinyin, or the full Chinese (画蛇添足) for an exact match.
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Yes. The tool indexes simplified characters but all content (meaning, origin, usage) includes traditional translation. Traditional input is matched.
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Not strictly. Chengyu range from 3 characters (e.g. 莫须有) to 12+ — but 4-character forms dominate (~95%). This tool only catalogues 4-char chengyu, the most canonical form.
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The most effective method is to remember the story, not the characters. 塞翁失马 is forgettable as four characters but unforgettable as "old man at the frontier loses his horse, horse returns with wild horse, son falls off and breaks leg, broken leg saves him from conscription".
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Depends. In professional writing, misuse damages credibility. In casual speech, usually forgiven. The most common error is confusing similar-sounding idioms — e.g. 不学无术 (unlearned) vs 不务正业 (not minding one's proper work).
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A core of 100-200 covers most situations — news consumption, business writing, public speeches, social etiquette. The 80 in this tool represent that core.
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Yes, but with caution. LLMs like ChatGPT are accurate on common chengyu but often confuse origins for rare ones and sometimes invent classical sources. Authoritative dictionaries remain the gold standard.
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Yes. Japanese 四字熟語 (yojijukugo) and Korean 사자성어 (sajaseong-eo) both borrowed extensively from Chinese chengyu, preserving the characters with different pronunciations. Meanings mostly match, with some semantic drift.
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Public domain. Chengyu sourced from classical texts (Shiji, Zhanguo Ce, Huainanzi, Liezi, Han Feizi) all well past copyright. Meanings and modern usage drawn from common-knowledge consensus across open dictionaries and textbooks.
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