得不偿失 — Chinese idiom

Meaning

• the gains do not make up for the losses

Character by character

• 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable, proper; r
• 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
• 偿chángto repay, to recompense; restitution
• 失shīto lose; to make a mistake, to neglect

Idioms sharing a character

• 一举两得 yī jǔ liǎng dé
• 优游自得 yōu yóu zì dé
• 动辄得咎 dòng zhé dé jiù
• 势在必得 shì zài bì dé
• 各得其所 gè dé qí suǒ
• 咎有应得 jiù yǒu yīng dé
• 哭笑不得 kū xiào bù dé
• 因祸得福 yīn huò dé fú
• 失而复得 shī ér fù dé
• 如鱼得水 rú yú dé shuǐ

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.