HSK 7–9 vocabularyHSK 3.0

画蛇添足

huàshé-tiānzú

Traditional: 畫蛇添足

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

HSK 7–9
HSK 7–9 flashcards →Quiz

Meaning of 画蛇添足 in English

huàshé-tiānzúHSK 7–9Syllabus #7133
  1. lit. draw legs on a snake (idiom); fig. to ruin the effect by adding sth superfluous
  2. to overdo it

Characters

画 on its own →
huà · to draw; to paint

HSK words with 画

画HSK 2画家HSK 3动画HSK 5国画HSK 5画面HSK 5图画HSK 5绘画HSK 6漫画HSK 6书画HSK 6壁画HSK 7–9
蛇 on its own →
shé · snake

HSK words with 蛇

蛇HSK 5
添 on its own →
tiān · to add; to increase; to replenish

HSK words with 添

添HSK 6添加HSK 6增添HSK 7–9添加剂HSK 7–9锦上添花HSK 7–9
足 on its own →
zú · sufficient; ample

HSK words with 足

足球HSK 2不足HSK 5充足HSK 5满足HSK 5足够HSK 5足HSK 6十足HSK 6足以HSK 6长足HSK 7–9富足HSK 7–9

Level, pinyin and part of speech: HSK Syllabus (CLEC, Nov 2025). Definitions: CC-CEDICT, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sources & licences