失之毫厘,差之千里 shī zhī háo lí , chà zhī qiān lǐ

a tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake (idiom); a minor discrepancy leading to enormous losses

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. a tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake (idiom); a minor discrepancy leading to enormous losses

Characters

Character Meaning
to lose; to miss; to fail
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of de); it
(in the) least; hair; drawing brush
one hundredth; centi-; variant of
to fall short of; wrong; to differ from
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of de); it
thousand; see qiū qiān
inside; interior; internal