马马虎虎 mǎ mǎ hū hū
Horse horse, tiger tiger — the most famous way to say “meh”.
The short answer
马马虎虎 means so-so, careless, not quite right — said of work done sloppily or of things that are neither good nor bad. It is usually the first chengyu a learner meets.
What it means
Two animals that look nothing alike, said twice each: the doubled word performs the blur it names — a horse painted hastily might pass for a tiger, or is it the other way? 马马虎虎 covers both senses in one word: work that is sloppy, and things that are merely okay.
Answer 怎么样? (“how is it?”) with 马马虎虎 and you have said: passable, not worth a review. Say his work is 马马虎虎 and you have said: he doesn't quite check things. Tone and context sort the two uses.
The story (probably folk)
A widely told folk tale blames a careless Song dynasty painter. Asked for a tiger, he painted something between animals and titled it a horse-tiger; his elder son asked “is this a horse?” and was told yes — later he met a real tiger and tried to ride it. His younger son asked “is this a tiger?” — yes, said the painter — and later he met a horse and ran for his life.
Historically the idiom has no ancient pedigree: it looks like a modern colloquial doubling that caught on because it sounds perfect. Treat the painter as legend, the meaning as fact.
How to use it
Typical shapes: 他的作业总是马马虎虎, “his homework is always sloppy”; 最近怎么样？马马虎虎吧, “how's it going? — so-so”. Careful work is described by the opposite, 认真.
In use
2 examples他干活总是马马虎虎，检查过的报表还有错。
He's always slapdash with his work — even checked spreadsheets still have errors.
这家餐厅怎么样？马马虎虎，不值得专门去。
How's that restaurant? So-so — not worth a special trip.
The characters
Explore individuallyIndividual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of the whole word.
This guide is original Dengdeng editorial content, offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. The linked dictionary entries adapt CC-CEDICT under the same license.