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作威作福 (zuò wēi zuò fú) — (idiom, derogatory) to act tyrannically; to abuse one's power and ride roughshod over others

Definition

An idiom describing someone in power who throws their weight around — abusing authority to bully others. Always derogatory, used for people with power (officials, bosses), not peers.

idiom
(idiom, derogatory) to act tyrannicallyto abuse one's power and ride roughshod over others

Examples

  • 作威作福，。
    Lì shǐ shàng yǒu xiē huáng dì zuò wēi zuò fú, bú gù bǎi xìng sǐ huó.
    In history, some emperors acted tyrannically, disregarding the suffering of the people.
  • 作威作福，。
    Zhè ge lǐng dǎo zài dān wèi lǐ zuò wēi zuò fú, dà jiā dōu gǎn nù bù gǎn yán.
    This leader acts tyrannically in the office, and everyone is angry but dares not speak up.
  • 作威作福，。
    Tā shēng zhí hòu jiù kāi shǐ zuò wēi zuò fú, duì xià shǔ yí zhǐ qì shǐ.
    After he got promoted, he started acting tyrannically, ordering his subordinates around arrogantly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

作威abuse power
作zuòmake/do威wēipower/authority
动宾Verb + object
作福grant favors
作zuòmake/grant福fúblessing/favor
动宾Verb + object

作威 shows abusing power; 作福 shows arbitrarily granting blessings or favors, together describing tyrannical rule.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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

威 is made by combining 戌 and 女.

Open 威 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
畐
畐fú福fú
Same sound today

福 combines 示 and 畐, with 示 carrying the meaning and 畐 the sound.

Open 福 →
Appears in
Government & PoliticsIdioms & Set Phrases

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