掩耳盗铃 (yǎn ěr-dào líng) — self-deception; to deceive oneself by ignoring obvious facts
Definition
A chengyu from a classical story: literally 'covering one's ears while stealing a bell.' It means fooling only yourself by ignoring obvious facts — like thinking that if you can't hear something, no one else can either.
phrase
self-deceptionto deceive oneself by ignoring obvious facts
Examples
- ，掩耳盗铃。Tā xiǎng yǐn mán zhēn xiàng, zhè wán quán shì yǎn ěr-dào líng.He wants to hide the truth — that's pure self-deception.
- ，掩耳盗铃？Bù chéng rèn zì jǐ de cuò wù, bú jiù shì yǎn ěr-dào líng ma?Refusing to admit your own mistakes isn't that just deceiving yourself?
- 掩耳盗铃。Huí bì wèn tí zhī huì bèi shì wéi yǎn ěr-dào líng de xíng wéi.Avoiding the problem will only be seen as self-deception.
Appears in
Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.