掉以轻心
diào yǐ qīng xīn
to treat lightly; to drop one’s guard
Character by character
掉diào
treat
treat
以yǐ
with
with
轻qīng
light
light
心xīn
heart
heart
Example
病虽然好了，可也不能掉以轻心，药还要按时吃。
You may be better, but don’t get careless: keep taking your medicine on time.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
Almost always negated, as a warning: 不能／不可／切不可掉以轻心. From a letter on writing by 柳宗元 (773–819): 未尝敢以轻心掉之, he never dared to treat a piece of writing lightly.
Learn this in Lesson 18 · HSK 5: “小眼镜”越来越多 (Why so many children wear glasses)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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