不可一世

bùkě-yīshì
idiom #41,246

Meanings

  1. 1 to consider oneself unrivalled in one's generation
  2. 2 insufferably arrogant
  3. 3 full of oneself

Examples

Tā yī déjiǎng jiù bùkěyīshì.
The moment he won the prize, he became insufferable.
Nà jiā gōngsī dāngnián bùkěyīshì, rújīn yǐjīng dǎobì.
That company was unrivalled in its day - now it's gone under.
Tā niánqīng shí bùkěyīshì, hòulái cái xuéhuì qiānxū.
He was insufferably arrogant in his youth; only later did he learn humility.

Tips

history
From Luo Dajing's Song-dynasty 《鹤林玉露》: 「荆公少年,不可一世」 - Wang Anshi (王荆公) in his youth considered no contemporary his equal. Originally neutral 'peerless'; now uniformly pejorative.
mistakes
Despite the literal 'unrivalled,' this is always negative in modern use - 'arrogant / conceited.' Compare with the positive 举世无双 ('unmatched in the world').

Stroke Order

shì