大器晚成

dà qì wǎn chéng

a late bloomer

Character by character

大dà
great

器qì
vessel

晚wǎn
late

成chéng
complete

他四十岁才出名，可以说是大器晚成。

He only became famous at forty — a true late bloomer.

Tone: positive (praise).

From 《老子》: the greatest vessel takes the longest to finish.

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