招摇撞骗 (zhāo yáo zhuàng piàn) — to swindle by posing as a person of authority or influence; to bluff and cheat

Definition

A legal/societal term for the specific scam of flaunting fake status or connections to cheat people out of money — 'to bluff and swindle by posing as someone of authority.'

idiom
to swindle by posing as a person of authority or influenceto bluff and cheat

Examples

  • ，招摇撞骗，。
    Tā mào chōng gāo guān, dào chù zhāo yáo zhuàng piàn, piàn le bù shǎo qián.
    He impersonated a high-ranking official, swindling everywhere and cheating a lot of money.
  • 招摇撞骗，。
    Zhè ge fàn zuì tuán huǒ zhuān mén zhāo yáo zhuàng piàn, shòu hài zhě dà duō shì lǎo nián rén.
    This criminal gang specializes in swindling by posing as VIPs, and most of the victims are elderly people.
  • ，招摇撞骗。
    Jǐng fāng tí xǐng shì mín, bú yào qīng xìn nà xiē zhāo yáo zhuàng piàn de piàn zi.
    The police remind citizens not to trust those swindlers who bluff and cheat.

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.

招摇show off
招zhāoattract摇yáoshake
联合Side by side
撞骗swindle
撞zhuàngbump骗piàncheat
联合Side by side

The two actions 招摇, showing off, and 撞骗, swindling, are joined as parallel ways of deceiving.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
召
召zhào招zhāo
Same sound today

招 pairs 扌, the hand part, with 召, which gives the sound, to show beckoning with the hand.

Open 招 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 摇 →

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
扌Written in full as手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
童
童tóng撞zhuàng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 扌 is the hand radical, written in full as 手, and the right side 童 supplies the sound.

Open 撞 →

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 騙; 骗 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
扁
扁biǎn騙piàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 騙 pairs 馬 (horse) with 扁, which gives the sound; it originally meant to mount a horse by swinging a leg across it. The simplified 骗 is a later abbreviation.

Open 骗 →

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