成千上万chéng qiān shàng wàn(fig.) untold numbers; innumerable; countless

1. 1.

   (fig.) untold numbers; innumerable; countlessidiom

2. 2.

   (lit.) by the thousands and tens of thousands (idiom)idiom

Figurative meaning

Untold numbers; innumerable; countless.

Literal meaning

By the thousands and tens of thousands.

• 成not compositional here
• 千thousand
• 上not compositional here
• 万ten thousand

No attested origin story

成千上万 can come before a noun with 的, as in 成千上万的人, to stress a very large number.

1. HSK 3

   成千上万的人来看这场比赛。

   Chéng qiān shàng wàn de rén lái kàn zhè chǎng bǐsài.

   Countless people came to watch this match.

2. HSK 2

   这个图书馆有成千上万本书。

   Zhège túshūguǎn yǒu chéng qiān shàng wàn běn shū.

   This library has thousands upon thousands of books.

3. HSK 3

   天上有成千上万颗星星。

   Tiān shang yǒu chéng qiān shàng wàn kē xīngxing.

   There are countless stars in the sky.

1. 
   Speaker A:

   昨天的音乐节人多吗？

   Zuótiān de yīnyuèjié rén duō ma?

   Were there many people at yesterday's music festival?

2. 
   Speaker B:

   非常多，有成千上万的人。

   Fēicháng duō, yǒu chéng qiān shàng wàn de rén.

   Very many, there were thousands upon thousands.

3. 
   Speaker A:

   那你看见歌手了吗？

   Nà nǐ kànjiàn gēshǒu le ma?

   So did you see the singer?

4. 
   Speaker B:

   太远了，没看清楚。

   Tài yuǎn le, méi kàn qīngchu.

   It was too far, I couldn't see clearly.

1. 1.What does 成千上万 mean?

   ACountlessBTo persevereCEverywhere in the city
2. 2.Which sentence uses 成千上万 correctly?

   A成千上万的人来看比赛。B我成千上万去学校。C他很成千上万地说话。
3. 3.Which word fits best? 天上有____颗星星。 (There are countless stars in the sky.)

   A成千上万B持之以恒C大街小巷

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Related idioms

• 千家万户qiān jiā wàn hùevery family (idiom)HSK 6
• 千方百计qiān fāng bǎi jìlit. thousand ways, a hundred plans (idiom); by every possible meansHSK 7–9
• 纸上谈兵zhǐ shàng tán bīngtheoretical discussion that is worse than useless in practiceHSK 7–9
• 雪上加霜xuě shàng jiā shuāng(idiom) to make matters even worseHSK 7–9
• 马到成功mǎ dào chéng gōngto win instant successNot on the HSK 3.0 syllabus
• 一模一样yì mú yí yàngexactly alike; identicalHSK 6

Browse every entry in the Chinese idioms dictionary.