The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

一塌糊涂

yī tā hú tudictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
muddled and completely collapsing (idiom) / in an awful condition / complete shambles / a total mess
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-66315596f719a870. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

一塌糊塗 一塌糊涂 [yi1 ta1 hu2 tu5] /muddled and completely collapsing (idiom); in an awful condition/complete shambles/a total mess/

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: 一塌糊塗

  • 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

  • 塌
    tā

    to collapse / to droop / to settle down

  • 糊
    hú

    to paste / to glue / blurry / unclear / muddled / (esp. of food) scorched / burnt / paste / mush / thick gruel / congee / (in 糊口[hú kǒu]) to feed oneself

    hū

    to smear / to daub / to cover (a surface with sth sticky or paste-like) / Taiwan pr. [hú]

    hù

    paste / cream

  • 涂
    tú

    to apply (paint etc) / to smear / to daub / to blot out / to scribble / to scrawl / (literary) mud / street

    Tú

    surname Tu

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.