东施

東施

Dōngshī

proper noun

Meanings

1 Dongshi, the plain neighbour of Xi Shi who copied her frown and only looked worse
2 a clumsy imitator

Characters

east (the east village)

Shi, her family name

Examples

HSK 4

适合别人的不一定适合你，别做东施。

Shìhé biéren de bù yídìng shìhé nǐ, bié zuò Dōngshī.

What suits other people may not suit you, so don't be a clumsy copycat.

HSK 7-9

东施学西施皱眉，结果更难看了。

Dōngshī xué Xīshī zhòuméi, jiéguǒ gèng nánkàn le.

Dongshi copied Xi Shi's frown and ended up looking even uglier.

Tips

history

The story comes from 《庄子·天运》, which calls her only "an ugly woman of the village". Later tellers named her 东施, "Shi of the east village", to pair with 西施, "Shi of the west village", and the story gave the idiom 东施效颦. Set against 西施, her name can also simply mean a plain woman.

Stroke Order

东 dōng

施 shī