CHENGYU
画蛇添足(huà shé tiān zú)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- formal, often humorous
- Source:
- 《战国策·齐策二》
MEANING
- Literal
- to draw a snake and add feet
- Figurative meaning
- to overdo something and ruin it; to gild the lily
ORIGIN STORY
In the Warring States classic Zhanguo Ce, servants competed to draw a snake for a jug of wine. One finished first and, with time to spare, added legs to his snake. The second man declared it was no longer a snake, and drank the wine himself.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“to gild the lily (approximate)”
EXAMPLES
这篇文章已经很好了，再改就是画蛇添足。Zhè piān wénzhāng yǐjīng hěn hǎo le, zài gǎi jiù shì huà shé tiān zú.HSK5
The article is already good; editing it further would be gilding the lily.
他说得已经很清楚，你就不用画蛇添足了。Tā shuō de yǐjīng hěn qīngchu, nǐ jiù bù yòng huà shé tiān zú le.HSK6
He already explained it clearly; there is no need to add more.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: Use it only when the extra effort actively harms the result, not for any addition at all.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-14
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01