坑蒙拐骗

坑蒙拐騙

kēngméngguǎipiàn

idiom

Meanings

1 to swindle, deceive, kidnap, and cheat
2 every kind of scam and trickery

Characters

to entrap; to swindle

to deceive; to fool

to abduct; to lure away

to cheat; to swindle

Examples

他靠坑蒙拐骗赚了不少钱，最后被警察抓了。

Tā kào kēngméngguǎipiàn zhuàn le bùshǎo qián, zuìhòu bèi jǐngchá zhuā le.

He made a lot of money through scams and trickery, and was eventually arrested by the police.

做生意要讲诚信，不能搞坑蒙拐骗那一套。

Zuò shēngyì yào jiǎng chéngxìn, bù néng gǎo kēngméngguǎipiàn nà yī tào.

In business you must be honest — you can't go in for swindling and cheating.

Tips

memory

Each character names a scam tactic: 坑 (to entrap), 蒙 (to deceive), 拐 (to abduct/lure away), 骗 (to swindle). Stringing all four together makes it a catch-all for criminal trickery.

register

Strongly negative, informal — used in everyday speech and news headlines about fraud. Often paired with 偷鸡摸狗 to denounce all kinds of shady behavior.

Stroke Order

坑 kēng

蒙 méng

拐 guǎi

骗 piàn