声名狼藉 (shēng míng láng jí) — notorious, infamous, disgraced | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A four-character idiom meaning 'reputation in complete disarray' — stronger and more literary than the plain adjective 臭名昭著, used in formal writing about figures (officials, companies) disgraced by scandal.

idiom

notoriousinfamousdisgraced

Examples

声名狼藉。
Nà ge guān yuán yīn wèi tān wū shòu huì ér shēng míng láng jí.
That official became notorious for embezzlement and bribery.
声名狼藉，。
Zhè jiā gōng sī zǎo yǐ shēng míng láng jí, méi rén yuàn yì gēn tā hé zuò.
This company has long been infamous; no one is willing to cooperate with it.
声名狼藉，。
Tā yīn xué shù zào jiǎ ér shēng míng láng jí, zuì zhōng bèi dà xué kāi chú.
He became notorious for academic fraud and was eventually expelled from the university.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

声名reputation

声shēngreputation名míngreputation

联合Coordinate

狼藉in disorder

狼láng藉jiè

声名 means reputation and 狼藉 means in disorder; together they describe a reputation ruined beyond repair.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聲; 声 is its simplified writing.

殸耳聲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

耳耳ěrear

Sound part声符shēngfú

殸

殸qìng聲shēng

Same sound today

The traditional form 聲 pairs 耳 (ear) with 殸 as a sound part; the simplified 声 is a shorthand and does not show those original parts.

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

夕口名

夕夕xīcrescent moon
口口kǒumouth

名 puts 夕 (crescent moon) above 口 (mouth), showing a name spoken in the dark.

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

犭良狼

Meaning part形符xíngfú

犭Written in full as犬quǎn

Sound part声符shēngfú

良

良liáng狼láng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 犭 (full form 犬) shows a dog-like animal. The right part 良 gives the sound.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Idioms & Set Phrases

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