南辕北辙 nán yuán běi zhé

to act in a way that defeats one's purpose (idiom)

HSK 6

Word data

HSK 6
Frequency 48602nd word

Definitions

  1. 1. to act in a way that defeats one's purpose (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
南 nán HSK 3
south; surname Nan
辕 yuán HSK 6
shafts of cart; yamen
北 běi HSK 1
north; (classical) to be defeated
辙 zhé HSK 6
to withdraw; to remove; track