城府

chéngfǔ
noun #33,128

Meanings

  1. 1 depth of mind
  2. 2 shrewdness
  3. 3 guardedness
  4. 4 calculated reserve

Examples

HSK 6
Zhège rén chéngfǔ hěn shēn, hěn nán kàntòu.
This person is very deep - hard to see through.
HSK 6
Tā niánjì suī xiǎo, què hěn yǒu chéngfǔ.
Although she is young, she is very calculating.

Tips

usage
城府 almost always appears with 深 (deep), as in 城府很深, describing someone who hides their thoughts behind a guarded exterior. It carries moral ambiguity: a sign of shrewdness, but also of being hard to trust. The opposite is 心直口快 ("straight heart, quick mouth").
history
Literally "city walls and government office" - both fortified, both layered. The metaphor: a guarded person is fortified like a walled city, with true intentions hidden in the inner offices.

Stroke Order

城 chéng
府 fǔ