欲壑难填

慾壑難填

yùhènántián

idiom

Meanings

1 the chasm of greed is impossible to fill
2 insatiably greedy
3 greed knows no limit

Characters

Examples

贪官欲壑难填，最终落得身败名裂。

Tānguān yùhènántián, zuìzhōng luòdé shēnbàimíngliè.

Corrupt officials' greed knows no limits; in the end they lose everything — name and reputation alike.

他欲壑难填，赚再多钱也不满足。

Tā yùhènántián, zhuàn zài duō qián yě bù mǎnzú.

His greed is bottomless; no amount of money satisfies him.

Tips

history

Phrase derives from 《国语·晋语》 (Discourses of the States, Jin section), where the description "as for the chasm of a wild boar (豨壑, xī hè), it can be filled, but this man's greed cannot" was used to predict that a greedy minister would die for his bribes.

usage

Strongly negative. Common in news commentary about corruption and in moral lectures. 壑 (hè) literally means "deep ravine" — picture a bottomless gorge that no amount of dirt can fill.

Stroke Order

欲 yù

壑 hè

难 nán

填 tián