The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

一语道破

yī yǔ dào pòdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
one word says it all (idiom) / to hit the nail on the head / to be pithy and correct
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-1e9f10f8ab2219e1. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

一語道破 一语道破 [yi1 yu3 dao4 po4] /one word says it all (idiom)/to hit the nail on the head/to be pithy and correct/

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: 一語道破

  • 一
    yī

    one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

  • 语
    yǔ

    dialect / language / speech

    yù

    (literary) to tell / to let (sb) know

  • 道
    dào

    road / path (CL:條|条[tiáo],股[gǔ]) / (bound form) way / reason / principle / (bound form) a skill / an art / a specialization / (Daoism) the Way / the Dao / to say (introducing a direct quotation, as in a novel) / (bound form) to express / to extend (polite words) / classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks, shadows etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process / (old) circuit (administrative division)

  • 破
    pò

    broken / damaged / worn out / lousy / rotten / to break, split or cleave / to get rid of / to destroy / to break with / to defeat / to capture (a city etc) / to expose the truth of

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.