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目中无人 (mù zhōng wú rén) — extremely arrogant, looking down on everyone; condescending; to consider others beneath oneself

Definition

A chengyu describing extreme arrogance — literally 'no people in one's eyes.' Denotes looking down on others as beneath oneself, stronger than simply being rude.

phrase
extremely arrogantlooking down on everyonecondescendingto consider others beneath oneself

Examples

  • ，目中无人，。
    Tā néng lì hěn qiáng, dàn mù zhōng wú rén, suǒ yǐ tóng shì dōu bù xǐ huan tā.
    He is very capable, but he looks down on everyone, so his colleagues don't like him.
  • 目中无人，。
    Xiǎo míng gāng shēng zhí jiù biàn de mù zhōng wú rén, lián lǎo péng you dōu bù lǐ le.
    Xiao Ming became arrogant as soon as he got promoted, and he even ignores old friends.
  • 目中无人。
    Tā nà zhǒng mù zhōng wú rén de tài dù ràng rén hěn bù shū fu.
    That condescending attitude of hers makes people very uncomfortable.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

目 began as a drawing of a human eye, turned sideways.

Open 目 →

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

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set PhrasesPersonality & Traits

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