Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Hiền lành trước mặt làm giặc sau lưng

🎙 Say it

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Be friendly to someone's face but harm them behind their back

Literally: be gentle in front, make enemy behind

Examples

Anh ấy luôn cười với tôi, nhưng tôi biết anh là người hiền lành trước mặt làm giặc sau lưngHe always smiles at me, but I know he is friendly to my face but harms me behind my back

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-06; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Hiền lành trước mặt làm giặc sau lưng” mean?

Be friendly to someone's face but harm them behind their back Literally: be gentle in front, make enemy behind

Is “Hiền lành trước mặt làm giặc sau lưng” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time