大材小用
dà cái xiǎo yòng
Pinyin

Definition

大材小用
 - 
dà cái xiǎo yòng
  1. using a talented person in an insignificant position (idiom)
  2. a sledgehammer to crack a nut

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

大
dà
  1. 1 big
  2. 2 huge
  3. 3 large
  4. 4 major
  5. 5 great
  6. 6 wide
  7. 7 deep
  8. 8 older (than)
  9. 9 oldest
  10. 10 eldest
  11. 11 greatly
  12. 12 very much
  13. 13 (dialect) father
  14. 14 father's elder or younger brother
大吉
dà jí
  1. 1 very auspicious
  2. 2 extremely lucky
大家
dà jiā
  1. 1 everyone
  2. 2 influential family
  3. 3 great expert
大奖
dà jiǎng
  1. 1 prize
  2. 2 award
大话骰
dà huà tóu
  1. 1 liar's dice (dice game)
小
xiǎo
  1. 1 small
  2. 2 tiny
  3. 3 few
  4. 4 young
小小
xiǎo xiǎo
  1. 1 very small
  2. 2 very few
  3. 3 very minor
小时
xiǎo shí
  1. 1 hour
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
用
yòng
  1. 1 to use
  2. 2 to employ
  3. 3 to have to
  4. 4 to eat or drink
  5. 5 expense or outlay
  6. 6 usefulness
  7. 7 hence
  8. 8 therefore
一大早
yī dà zǎo
  1. 1 at dawn
  2. 2 at first light
  3. 3 first thing in the morning
不用
bù yòng
  1. 1 need not
亚历山大
Yà lì shān dà
  1. 1 Alexander (name)
  2. 2 Alexandria (town name)
享用
xiǎng yòng
  1. 1 to enjoy (i.e. have the use or benefit of)
人大
Rén dà
  1. 1 (Chinese) National People's Congress (abbr. for 全國人民代表大會|全国人民代表大会[Quán guó Rén mín Dài biǎo Dà huì])
  2. 2 Renmin University of China (abbr. for 中國人民大學|中国人民大学[Zhōng guó Rén mín Dà xué])
作用
zuò yòng
  1. 1 to act on
  2. 2 to affect
  3. 3 action
  4. 4 function
  5. 5 activity
  6. 6 impact
  7. 7 result
  8. 8 effect
  9. 9 purpose
  10. 10 intent
  11. 11 to play a role
  12. 12 corresponds to English -ity, -ism, -ization
  13. 13 CL:個|个[gè]
使用
shǐ yòng
  1. 1 to use
  2. 2 to employ
  3. 3 to apply
  4. 4 to make use of
信用
xìn yòng
  1. 1 to trust
  2. 2 credit (commerce)
  3. 3 trustworthiness
  4. 4 creditworthiness
信用卡
xìn yòng kǎ
  1. 1 credit card
伟大
wěi dà
  1. 1 huge
  2. 2 great
  3. 3 grand
  4. 4 worthy of the greatest admiration
  5. 5 important (contribution etc)
备用
bèi yòng
  1. 1 reserve
  2. 2 spare
  3. 3 alternate
  4. 4 backup

Idioms (20)

一心二用
yī xīn èr yòng
  1. 1 to do two things at once (idiom)
  2. 2 to multitask
  3. 3 to divide one's attention
上有老下有小
shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo
  1. 1 lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children
  3. 3 sandwich generation
不拘小节
bù jū xiǎo jié
  1. 1 to not bother about trifles (idiom)
不见棺材不落泪
bù jiàn guān cai bù luò lèi
  1. 1 lit. not to shed a tear until one sees the coffin (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. refuse to be convinced until one is faced with grim reality
不识大体
bù shí dà tǐ
  1. 1 to fail to see the larger issue (idiom)
  2. 2 to fail to grasp the big picture
久仰大名
jiǔ yǎng dà míng
  1. 1 I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time (idiom)
以小人之心，度君子之腹
yǐ xiǎo rén zhī xīn , duó jūn zǐ zhī fù
  1. 1 to gauge the heart of a gentleman with one's own mean measure (idiom)
以小挤大
yǐ xiǎo jǐ dà
  1. 1 minor projects eclipse major ones (idiom)
元恶大憝
yuán è dà duì
  1. 1 arch-criminal and archenemy (idiom)
冒大不韪
mào dà bù wěi
  1. 1 to face opprobrium (idiom)
别有用心
bié yǒu yòng xīn
  1. 1 to have an ulterior motive (idiom)
别无他用
bié wú tā yòng
  1. 1 to have no other use or purpose (idiom)
刚愎自用
gāng bì zì yòng
  1. 1 obstinate and self-opinionated (idiom)
割鸡焉用牛刀
gē jī yān yòng niú dāo
  1. 1 lit. why use a pole-ax to slaughter a chicken? (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to waste effort on a trifling matter
  3. 3 also written 殺雞焉用牛刀|杀鸡焉用牛刀[shā jī yān yòng niú dāo]
升斗小民
shēng dǒu xiǎo mín
  1. 1 poor people (idiom)
  2. 2 those who live from hand to mouth
吃大锅饭
chī dà guō fàn
  1. 1 lit. to eat from the common pot (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to be rewarded the same, regardless of performance
吃饭皇帝大
chī fàn huáng dì dà
  1. 1 eating comes first, then comes everything else (idiom) (Tw)
哀莫大于心死
āi mò dà yú xīn sǐ
  1. 1 nothing sadder than a withered heart (idiom attributed to Confucius by Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuāng zǐ])
  2. 2 no greater sorrow than a heart that never rejoices
  3. 3 the worst sorrow is not as bad as an uncaring heart
  4. 4 nothing is more wretched than apathy
哄堂大笑
hōng táng dà xiào
  1. 1 the whole room roaring with laughter (idiom)
嚎啕大哭
háo táo dà kū
  1. 1 to wail
  2. 2 to bawl (idiom)

Sample Sentences

哼！像我这种人才，在你这里根本是大材小用了。
hèng ！xiàng wǒ zhèzhǒng réncái ，zài nǐ zhèlǐ gēnběn shì dàcái xiǎoyòng le 。
Hmph! A talent like me is wasted in this place.
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