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  5. 吃力不讨好

吃力不讨好 (chī lì bù tǎo hǎo): To do a hard but thankless job — Meaning & Stroke Order

1.

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Stroke order animation for 吃力不讨好
2.

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3.

Character Breakdown

吃 • chī • to eat • HSK 2.0 L1
HSK 1
chī吃

to eat

力 • lì • strength, power, force • HSK 3.0 · L5
HSK 3.0 · L5
lì力

strength, power, force

不 • bù • not; no • HSK 2.0 L1
HSK 1
bù不

not; no

讨 • tǎo • to demand, to discuss, to condemn • HSK 3.0 · L7-9
HSK 3.0 · L7-9
tǎo讨

to demand, to discuss, to condemn

好 • hǎo • good • HSK 2.0 L1
HSK 1
hǎo好

good

Word Info

Pinyinchī lì bù tǎo hǎo
Meaningto do a hard but thankless job; to work hard but get no appreciation
Characters5
Syntax—

Words Sharing Characters

More common words that include characters from 吃力不讨好.

Words with 吃
  • 好吃hǎo chīdelicious
  • 吃惊chī jīngto be startled
  • 小吃xiǎo chīsnack
  • 吃亏chī kuīto suffer losses; come to grief; take a beating
  • 吃力chī lìstrenuous; laborious
  • 吃苦chī kǔbear hardships
  • 大吃一惊dà chī yī jīngto have a surprise (idiom); shocked or startled
  • 口吃kǒu chīStammer / stutter
Words with 力
  • 努力nǔ lìhardworking
  • 力气lì qistrength
  • 压力yā lìpressure
  • 听力tīng lìhearing
Words with 不
  • 不要bù yàodon't!
  • 不客气bú kè qiyou're welcome; impolite
  • 对不起duì bu qǐsorry
  • 不错bù cuòcorrect
Words with 讨
  • 讨厌tǎo yàndislike; loathe
  • 讨论tǎo lùnto discuss
  • 讨价还价tǎo jià huán jiàbargain/barter with somebody for something
  • 探讨tàn tǎoinquire into; probe; investigate
Words with 好
  • 你好nǐ hǎohello; hi
  • 好听hǎo tīngpleasant to hear
  • 好看hǎo kàngood-looking
  • 好玩儿hǎo wán rfun; interesting; amusing
能力
néng lì
skills; ability
  • 巧克力qiǎo kè lìchocolate
  • 人力rén lìmanpower
  • 体力tǐ lìphysical strength
    • 不好意思
    bù hǎo yì si
    to feel embarrassed
  • 不久bù jiǔnot long (after)
  • 不但bù dànnot only (... but also ...)
  • 不同bù tóngdifferent
    • 检讨
    jiǎn tǎo
    self-criticism
  • 研讨yán tǎodiscussion
  • 讨好tǎo hǎoto win favor by fawning on somebody
  • 乞讨qǐ tǎoBeg
    • 好吃
    hǎo chī
    delicious
  • 不好意思bù hǎo yì sito feel embarrassed
  • 好久hǎo jiǔquite a while
  • 好多hǎo duōmany
    • 4.

    Example Sentences with 吃力不讨好

    tā他
    zhǔ主
    dòng动
    bāng帮
    tóng同
    shì事
    zhěng整
    lǐ理
    wén文
    jiàn件
    ，
    jié结
    guǒ果
    chī吃
    lì力
    bù不
    tǎo讨
    hǎo好
    ，
    hái还
    bèi被
    mán埋
    yuàn怨
    duō多
    guǎn管
    xián闲
    shì事
    。
    He offered to help his colleague organize the documents, but it was a thankless task; he was even blamed for meddling.
    mā妈
    ma妈
    měi每
    tiān天
    zǎo早
    qǐ起
    zuò做
    zǎo早
    fàn饭
    zhè这
    zhǒng种
    chī吃
    lì力
    bù不
    tǎo讨
    hǎo好
    de的
    ，
    què却
    cháng常
    bèi被
    hái孩
    zi子
    xián嫌
    bù不
    hǎo好
    chī吃
    ，
    zhēn真
    shì是
    chī吃
    lì力
    bù不
    tǎo讨
    hǎo好
    。
    Mom gets up early every day to make breakfast, but the kids often complain it doesn't taste good—it's really a thankless job.
    shì事
    ，
    yǐ以
    hòu后
    hái还
    shì是
    shǎo少
    zuò做
    wéi为
    miào妙
    。
    It's better to do less of this kind of thankless work in the future.