qīng
tíng
diǎn
shuǐ

idiom
common

Meaning of 蜻蜓点水

蜻蜓点水 means to skim the surface; to do something superficially without going deep; to work in a perfunctory manner. Pronounced qīng tíng diǎn shuǐ.

  • to skim the surface; to do something superficially without going deep; to work in a perfunctory manner

Definitions & Examples

Xué
yào
shēn
zuān
yán
 
néng
qīng
tíng
diǎn
shuǐ
 

One must study deeply and thoroughly, not just skim the surface.

de
diào
chá
bào
gào
zhǐ
shì
qīng
tíng
diǎn
shuǐ
 
méi
yǒu
chù
shí
zhì
wèn
 

His investigation report merely skimmed the surface without touching the essential issues.

Lǐng
dǎo
shì
chá
gōng
zuò
 
néng
qīng
tíng
diǎn
shuǐ
 
yào
shēn
céng
 

When leaders inspect work, they cannot just skim the surface; they must go deep to the grassroots level.

Zuò
xué
wèn
zuì
qīng
tíng
diǎn
shuǐ
 
qiǎn
cháng
zhé
zhǐ
 

The worst thing in scholarship is to skim the surface and stop after a superficial taste.