招摇撞骗

招搖撞騙

zhāoyáozhuàngpiàn

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

他冒充政府官员，到处招摇撞骗。

Tā màochōng zhèngfǔ guānyuán, dàochù zhāoyáozhuàngpiàn.

He posed as a government official and swindled people everywhere.

这种招摇撞骗的行为一定会受到法律制裁。

Zhè zhǒng zhāoyáozhuàngpiàn 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