小惩大诫 xiǎo chéng dà jiè

give small punishment as big warning

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. lit. to punish a little to prevent a lot (idiom); to criticize former mistakes firmly to prevent large scale repetition

Characters

Character Meaning
小 xiǎo HSK 1
small; young; tiny
惩 chéng HSK 6
to punish; to reprimand; to warn
大 dà HSK 1
big; large; great
诫 jiè HSK 6
to prohibit; commandment