画蛇添足

huà shé tiān zú

HSK 2.0 Level 6 HSK 3.0 Level 7 Rare

Definitions

1. lit. draw legs on a snake (idiom); fig. to ruin the effect by adding sth superfluous
2. to overdo it

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(idiom) to refrain from going too far; to know when to stop

在适当的时候停止，不要过头

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to paint a dragon and dot in the eyes (idiom); fig. to add the vital finishing touch

比喻在关键处加上精辟的语句，使内容更加生动有力

“画蛇添足”本身已是动词性成语，前不再加“做”等动词，如不说“做了一个画蛇添足的事”。

1 shown

你这么做简直是画蛇添足。

What you did is simply gilding the lily.

AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

to add

snake

excessive

foot

to draw