DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
換湯不換藥
简 换汤不换药 · 繁 換湯不換藥Mandarin · pinyin huàn tāng bù huàn yào
Meanings
- different broth but the same old medicine (idiom); a change in name only
- a change in form but not in substance
Characters in this entry
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
4–1–4–4–4 · huan4 tang1 bu4 huan4 yao4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
5character links
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
wun6 tong1 bat1 wun6 joek6
Cantonese word readings for 換湯不換藥. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
wun6 tong1 bat1 wun6 joek6
Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (idiomatic) to change only the form but not the content; same old stuff but with a different label
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack