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少年老成

shào nián lǎo chéngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
accomplished though young / lacking youthful vigor
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-d107f218c5e8722b. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

少年老成 少年老成 [shao4 nian2 lao3 cheng2] /accomplished though young/lacking youthful vigor/

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.

  • 少
    shǎo

    few / less / to lack / to be missing / to stop (doing sth) / seldom

    shào

    young

  • 年
    nián

    year / CL:個|个[gè] / grain / harvest (old)

    Nián

    surname Nian

  • 老
    lǎo

    prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity / old (of people) / venerable (person) / experienced / of long standing / always / all the time / of the past / very / outdated / (of meat etc) tough

  • 成
    chéng

    to succeed / to finish / to complete / to accomplish / to become / to turn into / to be all right / OK! / one tenth

    Chéng

    surname Cheng / short name for Chengdu 成都[Chéng dū]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.