大材小用

Origin and story

Lu You uses the exact phrase in his Southern Song poem sending Xin You'an, better known as Xin Qiji, to court. He laments the old problem of great material being put to small use and compares the recipient with the capable statesmen Guan Zhong and Xiao He. The compliment argues that Xin's abilities deserve a task equal to them.

材 means material and also suggests personal capacity. The image is therefore one of mismatch: something capable of much more is assigned too limited a use. Today it often describes an overqualified person being given work that does not make use of their skills.