Chinese word dictionary

破茧成蝶

pò jiǎn chéng dié · lit. to break through a cocoon and turn into a butterfly (idiom); fig. to emerge strong after a period of struggle; to get to a better place after going through difficult period

Practice word

Word information

Simplified破茧成蝶

Traditional破繭成蝶

Pinyinpò jiǎn chéng dié

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

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

破pò

to break, to rout; to ruin, to destroy

茧jiǎn

cocoon; callus, blister

成chéng

to accomplish; to become; to complete, to finish; to succeed

蝶dié

butterfly

How to learn 破茧成蝶

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.

变成biànchéng

to change into; to turn into; to become

成绩chéngjì

achievement; performance records; grades; CL:項|项[xiang4],個|个[ge4]

完成wánchéng

to complete; to accomplish

成功chénggōng

Chenggong or Chengkung town in Taitung County 臺東縣|台东县[Tai2 dong1 Xian4], southeast Taiwan; to succeed; success; successful; fruitful

成为chéngwéi

to become; to turn into

破pò

broken; damaged; worn out; lousy; rotten; to break, split or cleave; to get rid of; to destroy; to break with; to defeat; to capture (a city etc); to expose the truth of