📖 Meaning
To despise the world and look down on others. It describes someone who is arrogant and holds worldly conventions in contempt, behaving with haughty self-importance.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Huainanzi (淮南子), specifically the chapter 'Qisu Xun' (齐俗训), a work compiled during the Western Han dynasty under the patronage of Liu An, Prince of Huainan. The original text reads, '敖世轻物，不污于俗,' meaning one who scorns the world and belittles worldly affairs, refusing to be corrupted by vulgar customs. The character 敖 functions as a variant of 傲, meaning 'arrogant' or 'proud.' The phrase was used to describe a person of lofty, detached disposition who refuses to conform to ordinary societal norms.
💡 Example Usage
他生性敖世轻物，不愿与世俗之人同流合污。
By nature he disdained the world and looked down on others, unwilling to associate with vulgar people.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 敖世轻物
- Pinyin: áo shì qīng wù
- Literal Translation: disdain, world, look down, things
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4