大言不惭 (dà yán bù cán) — to boast shamelessly; to brag without shame

Definition

A four-character idiom meaning 'to boast shamelessly' — stronger than just bragging; the speaker is both exaggerated and shamelessly unembarrassed about it.

idiom
to boast shamelesslyto brag without shame

Examples

  • 大言不惭，。
    Tā zǒng shì yí dà yán bù cán, shuō zì jǐ néng jiě jué suǒ yǒu wèn tí.
    He always boasts shamelessly, claiming he can solve all problems.
  • 大言不惭，。
    Zhè zhǒng dà yán bù cán de huà, yě jiù zhǐ yǒu tā zì jǐ xìn.
    Only he himself believes such shameless boasting.
  • 大言不惭，。
    Tā zài huì shàng dà yán bù cán, jié guǒ bèi dà jiā dāng chǎng jiē chuān.
    He bragged shamelessly at the meeting, only to be exposed on the spot.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

大言boastful words
大dàboastful言yánwords
偏正Modifier + head
不惭not ashamed
不bùnot惭cánashamed
偏正Modifier + head

大言, boastful words, and 不惭, not ashamed, stand side by side to picture bragging without shame.

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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

The early form of 言 shows an opening and a mark indicating a location; the location is not described as the source of speech.

Open 言 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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 慚; 惭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
斬
斬zhǎn慚cán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 慚 writes 心, heart, beside 斬, which gave the sound; the simplified 惭 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical part.

Open 惭 →

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