欲盖弥彰

欲蓋彌彰

yùgàimízhāng

idiom

Meanings

1 the more you try to hide it, the more it shows
2 a cover-up that backfires
3 attempting to conceal only makes it more obvious

Characters

to cover, conceal

more, all the more

to show, make evident

Examples

他越解释越可疑，真是欲盖弥彰。

Tā yuè jiěshì yuè kěyí, zhēn shì yù gài mí zhāng.

The more he explained, the more suspicious it looked — a classic case of a cover-up making things worse.

删帖只会让这件事欲盖弥彰。

Shān tiě zhǐ huì ràng zhè jiàn shì yù gài mí zhāng.

Deleting the posts will only draw more attention to the matter.

Tips

history

From 《左传·昭公三十一年》: 或欲盖而名章 ('some try to conceal, yet their name becomes famous'). Originally moral commentary: you can't hide an act of injustice — trying to will only expose it more.

Stroke Order

欲 yù

盖 gài

弥 mí

彰 zhāng