屈才 (qū cái) — (colloquial) to waste one's talent; to be overq…

Definition

To have one's talent wasted in a role beneath one's ability — typically describes a person being overqualified, not a misused skill.

verb

(colloquial) to waste one's talentto be overqualified for a position

，屈才。
Ràng yí gè bó shì zuò zhè zhǒng jiǎn dān de gōng zuò, zhēn shì qū cái.
Having a PhD do such simple work is really a waste of talent.
，。
Tā suī rán bù shuō shén me, dàn xīn lǐ jué de zì jǐ qū le cái.
Even though he doesn't say anything, he feels in his heart that his talent is being wasted.
，屈才。
Zhè me yōu xiù de rén cái qù guǎn cāng kù, wèi miǎn tài qū cái le.
Having such an excellent person manage a warehouse is just too much of a waste of talent.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

屈qūwrong/waste

屈 (wrong/waste) and 才 (talent) form the idea of wasting talent.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

出

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

屈 was built from 出 for sound and 尾 for tail; the tail part later changed into the top of 屈.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

才 originally drew a sharp peg, not a sprout growing from the ground.