得不偿失

dé bù cháng shī

HSK 2.0 Level 6 HSK 3.0 Level 7 Rare

Definitions

1. the gains do not make up for the losses (idiom)

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Word relationships

Related words

4 items

事倍功半

shì bèi gōng bàn

twice the effort for half the result

表达效果与付出不成正比，类似得不偿失的负向结果

入不敷出

rù bù fū chū

income does not cover expenditure

形容支出超过收入，得失失衡，与得不偿失的损失大于收益相近

功亏一篑

gōng kuī yī kuì

lit. to ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful

比喻功败垂成，付出了很多却最后失败，含有得不偿失的意味

因小失大

yīn xiǎo shī dà

to save a little only to lose a lot (idiom)

因为小的利益而失去大的利益，常与得不偿失连用

Usage notes

Collocations

常与‘因小失大’连用，强调因贪小利而损失更大，如‘不要因小失大，否则得不偿失’

Common mistakes

不要误写为‘得不成失’，‘偿’在这里是‘补偿’的意思，读作cháng，不要读成sháng或写错。

Example Sentences

1 shown

为了省小钱花大时间，真是得不偿失。

Spending a lot of time to save a little money is really not worth the cost.

AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Child Words of 得不偿失

no; not so

to obtain

structural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to following phrase indicating effect, degree, possibility etc

to have to

to repay

to lose