喧宾夺主

喧賓奪主

xuānbīn-duózhǔ

idiom #45,005

Meanings

1 for the guest to upstage the host
2 for a secondary element to overshadow the main one
3 to steal the spotlight

Characters

Examples

配乐太大声了，有点喧宾夺主。

Pèiyuè tài dàshēng le, yǒudiǎn xuānbīnduózhǔ.

The background music is too loud — it's upstaging everything else.

装饰不能喧宾夺主，影响主题。

Zhuāngshì bùnéng xuānbīnduózhǔ, yǐngxiǎng zhǔtí.

Decorations shouldn't overshadow and detract from the main theme.

副歌写得比主歌好，有点喧宾夺主的感觉。

Fùgē xiě de bǐ zhǔgē hǎo, yǒudiǎn xuānbīnduózhǔ de gǎnjué.

The chorus is written better than the verse — it feels like the guest upstaging the host.

Tips

memory

Literally: 'loud guest snatches the host's place.' Great for critiquing design, music mixing, public speaking, or anything where the background overtakes the foreground.

Stroke Order

喧 xuān

宾 bīn

夺 duó

主 zhǔ