lit. drawing a tiger using a cat as a model (idiom); fig. to follow a model and get things more or less right but without capturing the spirit of the subject; uninspired imitation
trad. 照貓畫虎
Also written 照貓畫虎【zhào māo huà hǔ】
Characters in this word
4照
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
variant of 照[zhao4], to shine, to illuminate
- Pinyin
- zhào
- Traditional
- 炤
- Strokes
- 13
- Frequency
- 1612 of 2500
猫
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
cat (CL:隻|只[zhi1]), (dialect) to hide oneself, (loanword) (coll.) modem
- Pinyin
- māo
- Traditional
- 貓
- Strokes
- 11
- Frequency
- 1471 of 2500
画
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
to draw; to paint, picture; painting (CL:幅[fu2],張|张[zhang1]), to draw (a line) (variant of 劃|划[hua4]), stroke of a Chinese character (variant of 劃|划[hua4]), (calligraphy) horizontal stroke (variant of 劃|划[hua4])
- Pinyin
- huà
- Traditional
- 畫
- Strokes
- 8
- Frequency
- 1144 of 2500
虎
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
tiger, CL:隻|只[zhi1]
- Pinyin
- hǔ
- Strokes
- 8
- Frequency
- 10628 of 2500