📖 Meaning
To live up to the expectations of the many; to not disappoint those who have placed their hopes in you. It conveys a sense of having fulfilled the trust or confidence that others have invested in a person or outcome.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase does not trace to a single classical text but crystallized from common literary usage combining 负 (to fail/betray) with 众望 (the people's expectations). Its conceptual roots appear in works like the Book of Later Han (后汉书), where officials were evaluated on whether they had 让众人失望 or not. Over centuries the concise four-character form 不负众望 became standard in late imperial and modern written Chinese.
💡 Example Usage
他不负众望，在全国比赛中获得了金牌。
He lived up to everyone's expectations and won the gold medal in the national competition.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 不负众望
- Pinyin: bù fù zhòng wàng
- Literal Translation: not, betray, crowd's, expectations
- Category: Success
- Characters: 4