招摇撞骗

招搖撞騙

zhāoyáo-zhuàngpiàn

idiom #33,941

Meanings

1 to swindle by posing as someone important
2 to deceive by flaunting false credentials
3 to dupe people through a bogus identity

Characters

to beckon; to display

to wave; to flaunt

to bump into; to chance

to cheat; to swindle

Examples

HSK 7-9

他冒充政府官员，到处招摇撞骗。

Tā màochōng zhèngfǔ guānyuán, dàochù zhāoyáo-zhuàngpiàn.

He posed as a government official and swindled people everywhere.

HSK 7-9

这种招摇撞骗的行为一定会受到法律制裁。

Zhèzhǒng zhāoyáo-zhuàngpiàn de xíngwéi yídìng huì shòudào fǎlǜ zhìcái.

This kind of impersonation fraud will definitely face legal punishment.

Tips

history

From the 《清会典事例》 - the Qing dynasty administrative statutes regulating officials: 「学臣应用员役，傥有招摇撞骗及受贿传递等弊」. The phrase was a legal category long before it became everyday vocabulary, and 招摇撞骗罪 ('crime of impersonation fraud') remains a formal charge in the PRC Criminal Code.

register

Strongly negative, often appears in news reports of fraud cases. Not used self-referentially or jokingly.

Stroke Order

招 zhāo

摇 yáo

撞 zhuàng

骗 piàn