Free · no sign-up

Chengyu of the day

One Chinese four-character idiom a day, with tone-marked pinyin and what it actually means. Chengyu are the part of Chinese that dictionaries handle badly and native speakers use constantly.

鲜为人知

xiǎnwéirénzhī

rarely known to anyone (idiom); almost unknown; secret to all but a few

Traditional
鮮為人知
Featured
2026-07-25

Share today's idiom

Sharing this page posts the card below automatically — it is regenerated for each day, so a link shared today keeps showing today's idiom. Right-click to save it.

Today's chengyu with its pinyin and meaning

What is a chengyu?

A chengyu is a fixed four-character expression, usually compressed from a story or a classical text. The characters rarely add up to the meaning: 杯水车薪 is literally a cup of water on a cartload of burning firewood, and means an effort far too small to help. That is why they are learned whole, and why guessing from the characters goes wrong.