The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

吃力不讨好

chī lì bù tǎo hǎodictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
arduous and thankless task (idiom) / strenuous and unrewarding
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-045572210a6389ac. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

吃力不討好 吃力不讨好 [chi1 li4 bu4 tao3 hao3] /arduous and thankless task (idiom); strenuous and unrewarding/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 吃力不討好

  • 吃
    chī

    to eat / to consume / to eat at (a cafeteria etc) / to eradicate / to destroy / to absorb / to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)

  • 力
    lì

    power / force / strength / ability / strenuously

    Lì

    surname Li

  • 不
    bù

    no / not so / (bound form) not / un-

  • 讨
    tǎo

    to invite / to provoke / to demand or ask for / to send armed forces to suppress / to denounce or condemn / to marry (a woman) / to discuss or study

  • 好
    hǎo

    good / appropriate / proper / all right! / (before a verb) easy to / (before a verb) good to / (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so / (verb complement indicating completion) / (of two people) close / on intimate terms / (after a form of address) hello

    hào

    to be fond of / to have a tendency to / to be prone to

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.