笑面虎 (xiào miàn hǔ) — a wolf in sheep's clothing; someone who is outwardly kind but inwardly malicious

Definition

Literally 'smiling-face tiger': a person who looks friendly on the outside but is actually dangerous or mean — the Chinese equivalent of a 'wolf in sheep's clothing'.

noun
a wolf in sheep's clothingsomeone who is outwardly kind but inwardly malicious
Measure word · 只

Examples

  • ，笑面虎。
    Nà ge jīng lǐ kàn qǐ lái hé ǎi, dà jiā dōu shuō tā shì gè xiào miàn hǔ.
    That manager seems kind, but everyone says he's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
  • ，笑面虎。
    Nǐ yí dìng yào xiǎo xīn tā, tā kě shì gè yǒu míng de xiào miàn hǔ.
    You must be careful with him; he's a well-known wolf in sheep's clothing.
  • 笑面虎。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō lǐ de fǎn pài jué sè zhèng shì yí gè diǎn xíng de xiào miàn hǔ.
    The antagonist in this novel is precisely a typical wolf in sheep's clothing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

笑面smiling face
笑xiàosmiling面miànface
偏正Modifier + head
虎hǔtiger

'笑面' means a smiling face and '虎' means tiger, picturing a tiger with a smiling face.

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →

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

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →

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

虎 originally drew a tiger's head. Its body disappeared, and the legs and tail became the lower part.

Open 虎 →

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