虚与委蛇

虛與委蛇

xūyǔ-wēiyí

idiom

Meanings

1 to feign cooperation
2 to go through the motions of politeness
3 to deal with someone insincerely

Characters

empty; insincere

with; to deal with

(classical) pliant; yielding

(classical) winding; compliant

Examples

他不好直接拒绝，只好虚与委蛇一番。

Tā bùhǎo zhíjiē jùjué, zhǐhǎo xūyǔ-wēiyí yīfān.

He couldn't refuse outright, so he just went through the motions of being polite.

谈判桌上，双方都在虚与委蛇，谁也不想真正达成协议。

Tánpànzhuō shàng, shuāngfāng dōu zài xūyǔ-wēiyí, shuí yě bù xiǎng zhēnzhèng dáchéng xiéyì.

At the negotiating table, both sides just went through the motions; neither actually wanted to reach a deal.

面对老板的客套话，他只能虚与委蛇地应付几句。

Miànduì lǎobǎn de kètàohuà, tā zhǐnéng xūyǔ-wēiyí de yìngfu jǐ jù.

Faced with the boss's empty pleasantries, he could only respond in kind.

Tips

history

From 《庄子·应帝王》: 吾与之虚而委蛇 — 'I dealt with him emptily and pliantly.' The 蛇 here is read yí (classical), not shé. The phrase now describes hollow social politeness — smiling, nodding, never committing.

mistakes

Don't read this as xūyǔ wěishé. The 委 is wēi (first tone) not wěi, and 蛇 is yí not shé. Both syllables shift in this fixed expression.

Stroke Order

虚 xū

与 yǔ

委 wěi

蛇 shé