臨淵羨魚 lín yuān xiàn yú

only wish without acting; desire without effort

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. see 臨淵羨魚，临渊羡鱼lín yuān xiàn yú，不如退而结网[lin2 yuan1 xian4 yu2 , bu4 ru2 tui4 er2 jie2 wang3]

Characters

Character Meaning
臨 lín
to face; to be (just) about to; just before
淵 yuān
profound; deep; deep pool
羨 xiàn
to envy
魚 yú
fish; surname Yu