画虎不成反类犬 in English hua4 hu3 bu4 cheng2 fan3 lei4 quan3 Meaning

Meanings

  • to try to draw a tiger but end up with a likeness of a dog (idiomatic expression)
  • to try to do sth overambitious and end up botching it

Simplified Characters

画 虎 不 成 反 类 犬

Traditional Characters

畫 虎 不 成 反 類 犬

Pinyin

hua4 hu3 bu4 cheng2 fan3 lei4 quan3

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

画hua4to draw 虎hu3tiger 不bu4(negative prefix) 成cheng2surname Cheng 反fan3contrary 类lei4kind 犬quan3dog