Welcome to ChineseFrequencyDictionary.com. Enter a Chinese character or compound Chinese word to lookup. If a valid dictionary entry is found, frequency information will be shown below:

Chinese Character/Word:

Definition(s) for: 朽木不可雕

Hanzi Pinyin Definition(s)
朽木不可雕 xiǔ mù bù kě diāo - lit. rotten wood cannot be carved (idiom)
- fig. you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

List Ranking:

Where rank 1 is most common, and higher numbers are less common.

HSK 2 Level (2012) HSK 3 Band (2022) SUBTLEX-CH BeijingUni Global BeijingUni Weibo
- - - - 76,042

Individual Character Breakdown:

Simp Pinyin Eng
xiǔ- rotten
- surname Mu
- (bound form) tree
- (bound form) wood
- unresponsive; numb; wooden
- no; not so
- (bound form) not; un-
- (prefix) can; may; able to; -able
- to approve; to permit
- to suit
- (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very
- but; however
- used in 可汗[ke4 han2]
diāo- to carve
- to engrave
- shrewd
- bird of prey
diāo- variant of 雕[diao1], to engrave
diāo- bird of prey

Other Words Containing 朽木不可雕

Sorted by the 'SUBTLEX-CH' rank because that seems like the most reliable. Words without a SUBTLEX-CH rank are ignored for being too rare.

Word HSK 2 Level (2012) HSK 3 Band (2022) SUBTLEX-CH BeijingUni Global BeijingUni Weibo