How do you pronounce 狐假虎威?

狐假虎威 is pronounced as "hú jiǎ hǔ wēi" in Mandarin Chinese.

狐假虎威

Q: What does 狐假虎威 mean?

狐假虎威 (hú jiǎ hǔ wēi) literally means "Fox uses tiger's power" and metaphorically means "Borrow authority to intimidate". It belongs to the Relationships & Character category of Chinese idioms.

Q: When is 狐假虎威 used?

狐假虎威 is used when The junior manager kept dropping the CEO's name to get his way.

狐假虎威 (hú jiǎ hǔ wēi) literally means “fox uses tiger's power” and expresses “borrow authority to intimidate”. This idiom is used when describing situations involving relationships and character.

Also searched as: hu jia hu wei, hu jia hu wei,狐假虎威 meaning, 狐假虎威 in english

Borrow authority to intimidate

Pronunciation: hú jiǎ hǔ wēi Literal meaning: Fox uses tiger's power

Origin & Usage

A tiger caught a fox, and the fox said heaven had made it lord of the beasts, so eating it would be defying heaven — walk behind me and see whether anything dares stand its ground. The tiger followed, the animals fled, and the tiger concluded the fox had been telling the truth. The Strategies of the Warring States tells it about a general whose reputation rested entirely on the king behind him. The fox (狐) borrows (假) the tiger's (虎) power (威), and the phrase fits anyone whose authority is really somebody else's.

Examples

English: "The junior manager kept dropping the CEO's name to get his way"

Chinese: 这个初级经理总是搬出CEO的名字来达到目的

Related Chinese Idioms

Similar idioms about relationships & character

守株待兔

shǒu zhū dài tù

Wait passively for luck

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对牛弹琴

duì niú tán qín

Present to wrong audience

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井底之蛙

jǐng dǐ zhī wā

Narrow-minded from limited experience

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班门弄斧

bān mén nòng fǔ

Showing amateur skills to masters

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画蛇添足

huà shé tiān zú

Ruin by adding extras

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狐狸尾巴

hú li wěi ba

True nature eventually revealed

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两虎相争

liǎng hǔ xiāng zhēng

Fierce competition between equals

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三人成虎

sān rén chéng hǔ

Repeated lie becomes truth

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does 狐假虎威 mean in English?

狐假虎威 (hú jiǎ hǔ wēi) literally translates to “Fox uses tiger's power” and is used to express “Borrow authority to intimidate”. This Chinese idiom belongs to the Relationships & Character category.