妙手空空

miàoshǒukōngkōng
  1. petty thief (lit. quick fingered and vanish)
  2. empty-handed
  3. having nothing

CEDICT

  1. 唐方鎮魏博帥與陳許節度使劉昌裔不和，派遣刺客妙手空空前往行刺。相傳其神術高明，人莫能窺其用，鬼莫得躡其蹤。典出唐．裴鉶《聶隱娘傳》。後多指小偷、扒手。
  2. 比喻兩手空空，一無所有。
  3. 比喻缺乏資財而善於挪移應付。

重編國語辭典

Entry Composition

1 妙手 miàoshǒu
  1. miraculous hands of a healer
  2. highly skilled person
  3. brilliant move in chess or weiqi (go) 圍棋
2 空空 kōngkōng
  1. empty
  2. vacuous
  3. nothing
  4. vacant
  5. in vain
  6. all for nothing
  7. air-to-air (missile)

Related entries

空手 kōngshǒu
  1. empty-handed
  2. unarmed
  3. (painting, embroidery etc) without following a model
  4. (abbr. for 空手道 kōngshǒudào) karate
空手赤拳抓野兔並不容易。

It is not easy to catch a hare with your bare hands.

Source: Tatoeba

空著手 kōngzheshǒu empty-handed
素手 sùshǒu
  1. white hand
  2. empty-handed