唯利是图

唯利是圖

wéilìshìtú

idiom #30,058

Meanings

1 to be driven solely by profit
2 to put profit before everything else
3 mercenary

Characters

profit; benefit; sharp

is; this (classical emphatic)

to seek; to scheme; map

Examples

他唯利是图，为了钱什么事都做得出来。

Tā wéilìshìtú, wèi le qián shénme shì dōu zuò de chū lái.

He is driven purely by profit and will do anything for money.

一个唯利是图的商人很难赢得顾客的信任。

Yī gè wéilìshìtú de shāngrén hěn nán yíngdé gùkè de xìnrèn.

A purely profit-driven merchant will have a hard time winning customer trust.

Tips

memory

唯 (only) + 利 (profit) + 是 (is) + 图 (to seek; to scheme) — to seek only profit. The classical 唯...是... structure means only this. Picture someone with profit-tinted glasses, seeing nothing else.

Stroke Order

唯 wéi

利 lì

是 shì

图 tú