防不胜防
fáng bù shèng fáng
impossible to guard against
Character by character
防fáng
guard
guard
不bù
not
not
胜shèng
manage
manage
防fáng
guard
guard
Example
电信诈骗的花样天天在变，让人防不胜防。
Phone scams change shape every day, so it is impossible to be on guard against them all.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
胜 here means “to manage, to bear”, as in 不胜枚举 (too many to list). Said of scams, fakes, thieves and infections, often to argue that the burden should not fall on ordinary people alone.
Learn this in Lesson 118 · HSK 7–9: 土坑酸菜 (Exposé: the pickled-cabbage pits)
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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