Definition
招摇过市 is a four-character idiom that describes someone acting in a showy, attention-seeking way in public, often with a negative connotation of being ostentatious or insincere. The literal meaning is 'to swagger through the market' — the market (市) represents any public space, and 招摇 means 'to show off' or 'to make a display'. You can use it for people who dress flamboyantly, make a scene, or blatantly seek publicity. It is a fixed expression, so the characters are not separated.
f.e.
(set phrase) to act ostentatiously in publicto blatantly seek attention (negative connotation)
Examples
- ，招摇过市，。Nà ge míngxīng měitiān chuān de huāzhīzhāozhǎn, pīnmìng zhāo yáo guō, ràng rén hěn fǎngǎn.That celebrity dresses flashy every day and desperately swaggers around town, making people dislike him.
- ，，招摇过市。Tā wèile tuīxiāo zìjǐ de shū, zài jiē shàng sìmiàn sòng qiānmíng, xiǎnrán shì gùyì zhāo yáo guō.He gave out signed copies all over the street to promote his book, clearly seeking attention blatantly.
- 招摇过市，。Zhè zhǒng zhāo yáo guō de zuòfǎ zhǐ huì zhāo lái biérén de báiyǎn, bú huì yíngdé zūnzhòng.This kind of ostentatious behavior will only earn you disdain, not respect.
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