饮鸩止渴 in English yin3 zhen4 zhi3 ke3 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) drinking poison in the hope of quenching one's thirst (idiomatic expression)
  • metaphorically a supposed remedy that only makes matters worse

Simplified Characters

饮 鸩 止 渴

Traditional Characters

飲 鴆 止 渴

Pinyin

yin3 zhen4 zhi3 ke3

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

饮yin3old variant of 飲|饮[yin3] 鸩zhen4legendary bird whose feathers can be used as poison 止zhi3to stop 渴ke3thirsty