See How Fast You Can Learn Chinese

Try our interactive spaced repetition demo—study your first words in 60 seconds

Interactive demo Takes 60 seconds No sign-up needed

巧妇难为无米之炊

qiǎo fù nán wéi wú mǐ zhī chuī

Sign in to save this word to your study lists.

Definitions

1. The cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice (idiom); You won't get anywhere without equipment.

Child Words of 巧妇难为无米之炊

to bother

difficult (to...)

disaster

opportunely

rice

to cook food

because of

woman

not to have

as (in the capacity of)

clever wife

(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de])