狐假虎威

hújiǎhǔwēi

idiom #42,163

Meanings

1 the fox borrows the tiger's might
2 to use a powerful backer to bully others

Characters

to borrow / make use of

Examples

他狐假虎威，靠着老板的名声欺负同事。

Tā hújiǎhǔwēi, kàozhe lǎobǎn de míngshēng qīfù tóngshì.

He bullies his colleagues by leveraging the boss's name like a fox borrowing a tiger's might.

别狐假虎威了，大家都知道你没有真本事。

Bié hújiǎhǔwēi le, dàjiā dōu zhīdào nǐ méiyǒu zhēn běnshi.

Stop throwing your weight around with borrowed authority; everyone knows you have no real skill.

Tips

history

From 《战国策·楚策一》: a fox tricks a tiger into walking behind it, making other animals flee in terror. The tiger believes the animals fear the fox, not realizing they fear him.

Stroke Order

狐 hú

假 jià

虎 hǔ

威 wēi