失之毫厘，差之千里

Traditional: 失之毫釐，差之千里

shī zhī háo lí , chà zhī qiān lǐ

Dictionary entry

a tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake (idiom); a minor discrepancy leading to enormous losses

What does 失之毫厘，差之千里 mean?

失之毫厘，差之千里 (shī zhī háo lí , chà zhī qiān lǐ) has the following dictionary meaning.

1a tiny lapse can lead to a huge mistake (idiom); a minor discrepancy leading to enormous losses

Character breakdown

Open each character to see its own meanings and vocabulary links.

失shīto lose · to miss 之zhī(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) · him 毫háohair · drawing brush 厘lívariant of 釐|厘[li2]差chādifference; discrepancy · (math.) difference (amount remaining after a subtraction)千qiānthousand 里lǐvariant of 裡|里[li3]

Reviewed examples

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How to pronounce 失之毫厘，差之千里

失之毫厘，差之千里

shī zhī háo lí , chà zhī qiān lǐ

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Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.