Chinese word dictionary

拔苗助长

bá miáo zhù zhǎng · to spoil things through excessive enthusiasm (idiom)

Practice word

Word information

Simplified拔苗助长

Traditional拔苗助長

Pinyinbá miáo zhù zhǎng

Part of speechGeneral

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.06

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

拔bá

to uproot, to pull out; to select, to promote

苗miáo

sprouts; Miao nationality

助zhù

to help, to aid, to assist

长zhǎng

long, lasting; to excel in

How to learn 拔苗助长

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

长cháng

long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. [zhang4])

帮助bāngzhù

assistance; aid; to help; to assist

校长xiàozhǎng

(college, university) president; headmaster; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2]

队长duìzhǎng

captain; team leader; CL:個|个[ge4]

家长jiāzhǎng

head of a household; family head; patriarch; parent or guardian of a child

院长yuànzhǎng

the head of an institution whose name ends in 院[yuan4]; chair of a board; university president; college dean; premier of the Republic of China; CL:個|个[ge4]