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趁火打劫

chènhuǒdǎjié
idiom #36,495

Meanings

  1. 1 to loot a burning house
  2. 2 to take advantage of someone's misfortune
  3. 3 to exploit a crisis for personal gain

Examples

趁火打劫的行为令人不齿。
Chènhuǒdǎjié de xíngwéi lìng rén bùchǐ.
Taking advantage of someone in trouble is contemptible behavior.
灾难发生时，绝不能有人趁火打劫。
Zāinàn fāshēng shí, jué bùnéng yǒu rén chènhuǒdǎjié.
When disaster strikes, no one should be allowed to loot the burning house.

Tips

culture
One of the famous 三十六计 (Thirty-Six Stratagems) — strategy #5: attack when the enemy is in chaos. In civilian use it's purely pejorative.

Stroke Order

趁 chèn
火 huǒ
打 dǎ
劫 jié