坐观成败 in English zuo4 guan1 cheng2 bai4 Meaning

Meanings

  • to sit and await success or failure (idiomatic expression); to wait to see the outcome of a fight before taking sides
  • to sit on the fence

Simplified Characters

坐 观 成 败

Traditional Characters

坐 觀 成 敗

Pinyin

zuo4 guan1 cheng2 bai4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

坐zuo4surname Zuo 观guan1surname Guan 成cheng2surname Cheng 败bai4to defeat