恨鐵不成鋼 hèn tiě bù chéng gāng

to feel resentful towards sb for failing to meet expectations and impatient to see improvement (idiom)

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. to feel resentful towards sb for failing to meet expectations and impatient to see improvement (idiom)
  2. 2. lit. to hate iron for not becoming steel

Characters

Character Meaning
恨 hèn HSK 5
to hate; to regret
鐵 tiě
iron (metal); hard; strong
不 bù HSK 1
not; no; (negative prefix)
成 chéng HSK 3
to become; to succeed; to complete
鋼 gāng
steel