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得不偿失 (dé bù cháng shī): Meaning, Examples & Usage

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得不偿失

得不偿失 (dé bù cháng shī): Lose more than you gain — Meaning & Stroke Order

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Character Breakdown

得不偿失 consists of 4 characters.

to repay, to compensate

to lose; to miss; to fail

How to Use 得不偿失 in Sentences

Common collocations & usage patterns. Learn how to combine 得不偿失 with other words naturally.

Subject + Verbwith这样做

zhè这

yàng样

zuò做

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

neutral

doing this is not worth the cost

Adjective + Noun

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

de的

hòu后

guǒ果

Verb + Objectwith导致

dǎo导

zhì致

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

Example Sentences with 得不偿失

tā他

huā花

hěn很

duō多

qián钱

mǎi买

wán玩

formal

consequences where the loss outweighs the gain

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

de的

xíng行

wéi为

formal

a behavior that is not worth the cost

formal

Written

lead to a situation where the loss outweighs the gain

jù

具

，

dàn但

wán玩

yī一

xià下

jiù就

huài坏

le了

，

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

。

He spent a lot of money on a toy, but it broke quickly, which was not worth the cost.

Wèi为

le了

shěng省

qián钱

mǎi买

pián便

yi宜

huò货

，

jié结

guǒ果

hěn很

kuài快

jiù就

huài坏

le了

，

zhēn真

shi是

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

。

To save money by buying cheap goods, only for them to break quickly, is truly losing more than you gain.

wèi为

le了

zhuī追

qiú求

duǎn短

qī期

lì利

rùn润

ér而

pò破

huài坏

shēng生

tài态

huán环

jìng境

，

cháng长

yuǎn远

lái来

kàn看

jué绝

duì对

shì是

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

de的

。

Pursuing short-term profits at the expense of the ecological environment is definitely a case of losing more than you gain in the long run.

Show 6 More Sentences

nǐ你

wèi为

le了

shěng省

zhè这

diǎn点

xiǎo小

qián钱

，

què却

yào要

mào冒

zhè这

me么

dà大

de的

fēng风

xiǎn险

，

nán难

dào道

bù不

jué觉

de得

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

ma吗

？

You're taking such a big risk just to save this little bit of money; don't you think it's a case of losing more than you gain?

wèi为

le了

gǎn赶

shí时

jiān间

，

tā他

áo熬

yè夜

gōng

tā他

wèi为

le了

yíng赢

dé得

biàn辩

lùn论

，

bù不

xī

zhè这

zhǒng种

yǐ以

xī牺

shēng牲

chǎn产

pǐn品

zhì质

liàng量

wèi

gōng公

sī司

wèi为

le了

jiàng降

dī低

chéng成

běn本

，

xuē

suī虽

rán然

xiàng项

mù目

tí提

qián前

wán完

chéng成

le了

工

zuò作

，

jié结

guǒ果

dì第

èr二

tiān天

shēng生

bìng病

le了

，

zhēn真

shì是

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

。

To save time, he worked late into the night, but ended up getting sick the next day, which was really not worth it.

惜

shāng伤

hài害

péng朋

yǒu友

de的

gǎn感

qíng情

，

jié结

guǒ果

nòng弄

dé得

zhòng众

pàn叛

qīn亲

lí离

，

zhēn真

shì是

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

。

In order to win the argument, he didn't hesitate to hurt his friend's feelings, ending up alienating everyone; it was truly a case of losing more than he gained.

为

dài代

jià价

de的

jiàng降

jià价

cù促

xiāo销

，

zuì最

zhōng终

bìng并

bú不

huì会

dài带

lái来

lì利

rùn润

，

fǎn反

ér而

huì会

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

。

This kind of price-cutting promotion at the cost of product quality will not ultimately bring profits; on the contrary, it will result in losing more than you gain.

削

jiǎn减

le了

yuán员

gōng工

fú福

lì利

，

què却

dǎo导

zhì致

rén人

cái才

liú流

shī失

，

zuì最

zhōng终

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

。

The company cut employee benefits to reduce costs, but this led to a loss of talent, ultimately proving to be not worth the effort.

，

dàn但

tuán团

duì队

yīn因

guò过

dù度

láo劳

lèi累

ér而

shì士

qì气

dī低

luò落

，

zhè这

xiǎn显

rán然

shì是

dé得

bù不

cháng偿

shī失

de的

shèng胜

lì利

。

Although the project was completed ahead of schedule, the team's morale plummeted due to overwork, making this a clearly pyrrhic victory where they lost more than they gained.

Related Words

More HSK vocabulary that shares characters with 得不偿失.

Words with 得

觉得jué deHSK 2
记得jì deHSK 3
值得zhí deHSK 4
得意dé yìHSK 4
获得huò déHSK 4
不得不bù dé bùHSK 4
来得及lái de jíHSK 4
不得了bù dé liǎoHSK 5

Words with 不

不客气bú kè qiHSK 1
对不起duì bu qǐHSK 1
不但……而且……bù dàn ……ér qiě ……HSK 3
不仅bù jǐnHSK 4
不管bù guǎnHSK 4
不过bú guòHSK 4
不得不bù dé bùHSK 4

Words with 偿

偿还cháng huán
无偿wú cháng
补偿bǔ cháng
赔偿péi cháng
如愿以偿rú yuàn yǐ cháng

Words with 失

失望shī wàngHSK 4
失败shī bàiHSK 4
丢失diū shī
丧失sàng shī
失业shī yè
失事shī shì
失传shī chuán
失利shī lì

受不了

shòu bù liǎo

HSK 4