📖 Meaning
Describes things that are uneven, jagged, or irregular in height, length, or spacing. It is commonly used to say that levels, standards, or qualities vary widely and are far from uniform. The tone is often observational, noting inconsistency rather than outright badness.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase draws on the Shijing (Book of Songs, Zhou and Nan section), where the line "参差荇菜，左右采之" describes water-lettuce plants of differing lengths being gathered left and right. The Han dynasty scholar Yang Xiong later used it in the preface to his Fayan, writing that rulers, generals, ministers, and famous officials are 参差不齐, uneven in quality, yet all are judged by the single standard of the sage. From these two sources the idiom came to describe anything ragged, patchy, or inconsistent.
💡 Example Usage
礼生见他们参差不齐，也只好由着他们敷衍了事。
Seeing that they were a ragged and uneven bunch, the master of ceremonies could only let them go through the motions as best they could.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 参差不齐
- Pinyin: cēn cī bù qí
- Literal Translation: uneven, not, neat
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4