下马威 (xià mǎ wēi) — a display of authority or severity upon assumin…

Definition

A set chengyu for an intimidating show of strength, usually by a new boss or authority figure, to assert dominance early on. Often used as 给…一个下马威.

noun

a display of authority or severity upon assuming a positionan initial show of strength to intimidate

下马威。
Xīn jīng lǐ yí shàng rèn jiù gěi le dà jiā yí gè xià mǎ wēi.
The new manager gave everyone a show of power as soon as he took office.
，下马威。
Tā wèi le shù lì wēi xìn, xiān lái le gè xià mǎ wēi.
In order to establish authority, he first gave a show of strength.
，下马威。
Bié yǐ wéi tā hǎo qī fu, tā gāng lái shí jiù gěi le wǒ men yí gè xià mǎ wēi.
Don't think he's easy to bully; he gave us a show of power when he first arrived.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

下马getting off the horse

动宾Verb + object

威wēiauthority

下马, 'getting off the horse', and 威, 'authority', picture an official's first show of power to intimidate.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

戌女威

威 is made by combining 戌 and 女.

Appears in