画蛇添足

to ruin something by adding unnecessary extra work. Learn the modern situation first; the old story is useful only after the idiom has a job.

to overdo it; to gild the lily

Practice recall Open Practice

Situation first

to overdo it; to gild the lily

A chengyu is a compressed judgment about a situation. Random idiom sprinkling is how learners sound like a proverb calendar.

01 Name the situation Read the English meaning first. Know what kind of moment this idiom labels.

02 Hear four characters Play the chengyu and say it as one compact expression, not four isolated words.

03 Recall the use Log it, then use the chengyu quiz to match it to a modern situation.

Reading supports

Use these after the first listen. Pinyin is scaffolding; English is context; neither should become a sofa.

Literal meaning

draw a snake and add feet

Story

In the old story, someone finished drawing a snake first, then added feet to show off. Because snakes do not have feet, the extra detail made the drawing wrong.

Modern usage

Use it when someone overdoes a solution, adds unnecessary features, or complicates a clean plan.

Example

，。 This page is already clear. Adding ten more buttons would be overdoing it.