聪明反被聪明误 (cōng míng fǎn bèi cōng míng wù) — to be caught by one's own cleverness; cleverness may overreach itself

Definition

A chengyu warning that being too clever backfires — your own cleverness becomes the trap. Used to comment on someone whose scheming or overconfidence caused their downfall.

idiom
to be caught by one's own clevernesscleverness may overreach itself

Examples

  • ，聪明反被聪明误，。
    Tā zǒng jué de zì jǐ hěn cōng ming, jié guǒ cōng míng fǎn bèi cōng míng wù, bǎ shì qing gǎo zá le.
    He always thinks he's very smart, but in the end his cleverness backfired and he messed things up.
  • ，，聪明反被聪明误。
    Zài kǎo shì zhōng, tā yīn wèi tài zì xìn ér cū xīn, zhēn shì cōng míng fǎn bèi cōng míng wù.
    During the exam, he was careless because he was too confident — truly a case of cleverness overreaching itself.
  • ，聪明反被聪明误。
    Zuò shēng yi bù néng zhī kào xiǎo cōng ming, fǒu zé róng yì cōng míng fǎn bèi cōng míng wù.
    In business, you can't rely only on petty tricks, or you'll easily be caught by your own cleverness.

Origin

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聰; 聪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
囪
囪cōng聰cōng
Same sound today

The traditional form 聰 has 耳, the ear, beside a right side made of 囪, a window giving the sound, over 心, the heart; the simplified 聪 is a later abbreviation.

Open 聪 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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
又又yòuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
厂
厂chǎng反fǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

反 uses 又 (hand) for meaning and 厂 for sound. Its original shape showed a hand turning its palm over, giving the sense of return or reverse.

Open 反 →

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
衣衣yīclothing
Sound part声符shēngfú
皮
皮pí被bèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

被 pairs 衣 (clothing) with 皮, which gives the sound.

Open 被 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聰; 聪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
囪
囪cōng聰cōng
Same sound today

The traditional form 聰 has 耳, the ear, beside a right side made of 囪, a window giving the sound, over 心, the heart; the simplified 聪 is a later abbreviation.

Open 聪 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 誤; 误 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánspeech
Sound part声符shēngfú
吳
吳wú誤wù
Same sound today

The traditional form 誤 uses 言 (speech) for meaning and 吳 for sound, giving the idea of speaking an error; the simplified 误 is a later shorthand.

Open 误 →

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