得不偿失

Traditional (Taiwan): 得不償失

On the HSK 7-9 vocabulary list, at CEFR level C1.

débùchángshī ㄉㄜˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄤˊ ㄕ

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

Character by character

Sources