隔岸观火 (gé àn guān huǒ) — to watch someone's trouble from a safe distance without helping; to be an indifferent bystander
Definition
A chengyu for 'watching a fire from the other shore' — standing by indifferently while others suffer. Strongly negative: it criticizes the bystander, unlike neutral verbs like 观看.
idiom
to watch someone's trouble from a safe distance without helpingto be an indifferent bystander
Examples
- ，隔岸观火，。Lín jū jiā shī huǒ, tā què gé àn guān huǒ, shí zài ràng rén xīn hán.His neighbor's house caught fire, but he just watched from the sidelines — truly chilling.
- ，隔岸观火。Miàn duì péng you de kùn jìng, wǒ men bú yīng gāi gé àn guān huǒ.Faced with a friend's difficulty, we shouldn't just stand by and watch.
- 隔岸观火。Zhè zhǒng gé àn guān huǒ de tài dù zài tuán duì hé zuò zhōng hěn bù kě qǔ.This kind of indifferent bystander attitude is very undesirable in teamwork.
Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.