天てん地ち雲うん泥でい

noun

extreme difference; worlds apart

Idiomatic four-character compound emphasizing a vast, unbridgeable gap between two things, like the distance between heaven and earth or clouds and mud. Often used in formal or literary contexts.

See also: 雲泥

• 両りょう者しゃの実じつ力りょくは天てん地ち雲うん泥でいの差さだ。

  There is a world of difference in their abilities.

• この二ふたつの作さく品ひんには天てん地ち雲うん泥でいの開ひらきがある。

  There is an extreme gap between these two works.