得不償失

the gains do not make up for the losses (idiom)

Characters and words in 得不償失

to obtain / to get / to gain / to catch (a disease) / proper / suitable / proud / contented / to allow / to permit / ready / finished

= + : Don Quixote found a magic lamp and rubs it inside the elevator's kitchen. A genie appears and grants Don Quixote his wish for black sneakers. Unfortunately they are second hand and so smelly that Don Quixote instantly catches a disease.
de = d + e5
structural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to following phrase indicating effect, degree, possibility etc

= + : Because Don Quixote is so disappointed by the black sneakers he got from the genie from the magic lamp, he kicks both very mad from the rooftop of the elevator.
to have to / must / ought to / to need to

= + : Because Don Quixote kicked the genie's lamp from the rooftop of the Erechtheion as far as to inside of the Eiffel Tower, the genie demands Don Quixote to apologize. Inside of the Eiffel Tower, Don Quixote kowtows to the genie, who takes back the black sneakers he gave to Don Quixote earlier.
(negative prefix) / not / no

= + : Bruno Bear (bu) is setting up a wind wheel (丆) with a voodoo staff (卜) in the space station's bathroom (Ø4). He also puts a "forbidden" sign (mnemonic symbol for 不) on it, to make clear that it may not (不) be stopped.
no; not so / (bound form) not; un-
to repay / to compensate for / to recompense / to fulfill (hopes etc)

= + : Charlie Chaplin (ch) made a very nice dish in the anglepod's kitchen (ang2), but Rosa Luxemburg (亻) messed it all up by adding too many spices. To compensate (偿) for it she has to cook it all again, with Charlie Chaplin warily tasting (尝) the food from time to time.
to lose / to miss / to fail

= 𠂉 + : Sherlock (sh) locked himself out of the space station (Ø1)! He lost (失) his key (𠂉)! After he was floating in front of the space station for an eternity, a robot (大) came by with a lost+found box (失) which contained his lost key.

Words with 得不償失

得不償失 is not used as a component in another word.

Sentences with 得不償失

得不償失 currently does not appear in any sentence.