欲加之罪，何患无辞 yù jiā zhī zuì, hé huàn wú cí
Anyone set on finding a person guilty will never be short of a pretext.
Browse all entries 83355
Every expression in the dictionary, A to Z — pick a language, then a letter.
All languages English Tiếng Việt Chinese 中文
沉鱼落雁 chén yú luò yàn
Describes a woman so beautiful that fish dive out of sight and wild geese drop from the sky when they see her.
没事 méi shì
A reply meaning 'it's nothing' or 'I'm fine': it waves away an apology, thanks or someone's worry.
没关系 méi guān xi
It doesn't matter, that's all right — what you say when someone apologises.
清风明月 qīng fēng míng yuè
A cool breeze and a bright moon: a calm, beautiful night.
温故知新 wēn gù zhī xīn
To gain new understanding by going back over what you have already learned, or by looking at the past.
温良恭俭让 wēn liáng gōng jiǎn ràng
Five virtues ascribed to Confucius: gentle, kind, respectful, restrained and ready to yield.
滔滔不绝 tāo tāo bù jué
To talk on and on in a steady stream, like a river in flood.
爱人如己 ài rén rú jǐ
To love and care for other people as much as for oneself.
父慈子孝 fù cí zǐ xiào
The father is loving and the children are dutiful: the Confucian picture of a harmonious family.
狐假虎威 hú jiǎ hǔ wēi
To bully or impress people by leaning on someone else's power, like the fox in the fable that scared the other animals by walking in front of a tiger.
独一无二 dú yī wú èr
One of a kind; unique.
独孤求败 dú gū qiú bài
The name of an unbeatable swordsman in Jin Yong's martial-arts novels, who longed in vain for an opponent able to defeat him.
生老病死 shēng lǎo bìng sǐ
Birth, ageing, illness and death: the stages of life that nobody can avoid.
男女授受不亲 nán nǚ shòu shòu bù qīn
An old rule of propriety: a man and a woman should not pass things directly from hand to hand, and more broadly should keep apart and avoid touching.
男尊女卑 nán zūn nǚ bēi
The belief, or the social order, in which men rank higher than women.
病从口入，祸从口出 bìng cóng kǒu rù, huò cóng kǒu chū
Careless eating makes you ill and careless talk gets you into trouble.
百发百中 bǎi fā bǎi zhòng
To hit the target every time.
百年好合 bǎi nián hǎo hé
A wish that the couple will stay happily together for a hundred years.
百战百胜 bǎi zhàn bǎi shèng
To win every single time; unbeatable.
相亲相爱 xiāng qīn xiāng ài
To be close to and fond of one another; to live together in affection and harmony.
相见恨晚 xiāng jiàn hèn wǎn
To get on so well with someone you have just met that you wish you had known each other sooner.
眉清目秀 méi qīng mù xiù
Good-looking in a clean, gentle way: well-shaped eyebrows and bright, graceful eyes.
知子莫若父 zhī zǐ mò ruò fù
A father knows his own child better than anyone else does.
神出鬼没 shén chū guǐ mò
To come and go so quickly and unpredictably that nobody can tell where you will turn up next.
神机妙算 shén jī miào suàn
Planning so clever and accurate that it seems superhuman: the gift of foreseeing how things will turn out and preparing for it.
积少成多 jī shǎo chéng duō
Small amounts add up to a lot over time.
积谷防饥 jī gǔ fáng jī
To store up grain against a famine: to save in good times so that you are ready for hard ones.
红颜祸水 hóng yán huò shuǐ
A beautiful woman seen as the cause of a man's downfall or a country's ruin; the idea that beauty brings disaster.
缘木求鱼 yuán mù qiú yú
To go about something in a way that cannot possibly work, like going up a tree to find fish.
罪大恶极 zuì dà è jí
Guilty of the gravest crimes; wicked in the extreme.
羊质虎皮 yáng zhì hǔ pí
A sheep in a tiger's skin: impressive or fierce on the outside but weak and timid underneath.
胡思乱想 hú sī luàn xiǎng
To fill one's head with groundless worries, suspicions or daydreams; to overthink.
自以为是 zì yǐ wéi shì
Convinced that you are always right and unwilling to listen to anyone else; smug and stubborn in your opinions.
自圆其说 zì yuán qí shuō
To make your own story or argument hang together, with no gaps or contradictions.
自生自灭 zì shēng zì miè
To appear and die out on its own, with nobody caring or stepping in.
自食其力 zì shí qí lì
To support oneself through one's own work instead of depending on others.
苦尽甘来 kǔ jìn gān lái
When the hard times are over, good times arrive.
装模作样 zhuāng mó zuò yàng
To pretend; to strike a pose and behave in an affected way in order to impress or to deceive.
见利忘义 jiàn lì wàng yì
To forget loyalty, friendship and what is right as soon as there is money to be made.
见异思迁 jiàn yì sī qiān
To change your mind the moment you see something new or different; unable to stay loyal to one choice.
视死如归 shì sǐ rú guī
To meet death without fear, as calmly as if one were simply going home.
言过其实 yán guò qí shí
To describe something as bigger, better or worse than it really is; to go beyond the truth.
诗情画意 shī qíng huà yì
Having the beauty and mood of a poem or a painting; idyllic, picturesque.
请问 qǐng wèn
'Excuse me, may I ask…': a polite opener before a question to someone you don't know.
调虎离山 diào hǔ lí shān
To trick someone into leaving their base or strong position so that you can act while they are away.
谋事在人，成事在天 móu shì zài rén, chéng shì zài tiān
People can plan and do their best, but whether things succeed is up to fate.
谢谢 xiè xie
Thank you, thanks — the everyday expression of gratitude.
走火入魔 zǒu huǒ rù mó
To become so obsessed with something that you lose your balance and good sense.
走马看花 zǒu mǎ kàn huā
To look at something only in passing, like viewing flowers from a galloping horse.
身不由己 shēn bù yóu jǐ
Not free to act as you wish; forced by circumstances or by other people.
身经百战 shēn jīng bǎi zhàn
Having fought in a great many battles, and so hardened and expert.
车载斗量 chē zài dǒu liáng
So numerous that they could be carted away by the load and measured out by the peck.
进退两难 jìn tuì liǎng nán
To be stuck in a dilemma where going ahead and backing out are equally difficult.
送旧迎新 sòng jiù yíng xīn
To say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one; more broadly, to see off whoever or whatever is leaving and receive what is arriving.
道听途说 dào tīng tú shuō
Hearsay: something picked up in the street and passed on without checking.
避坑落井 bì kēng luò jǐng
To get clear of one trouble and immediately land in another, often a worse one.
避实就虚 bì shí jiù xū
To avoid meeting an opponent's strength head-on and to hit their weak spots instead.
避重就轻 bì zhòng jiù qīng
To steer clear of the serious part of a matter and deal only with the minor part, for instance admitting small faults while keeping quiet about the main one.
重男轻女 zhòng nán qīng nǚ
To value boys and men more than girls and women.
Advertisement
Ad space — ads help keep Idiomer free. Premium will remove them.