📖 Meaning
To rely on one's own abilities and look down on others. It describes a person who, confident in their talent, treats everyone with contempt and arrogance. The idiom is a variant of the more common 恃才傲物.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the commentary in the Biography of Liu Xiang (刘祥传论) within the History of the Southern Dynasties (《南史》), compiled during the Tang dynasty. The author reflects that even the revered Duke of Zhou (公旦) would have found it difficult to avoid the flaw of relying on talent and scorning others, yet Liu Xiang of the Southern Qi embraced this very arrogance. The commentator concludes that for such a person, death was almost a mercy. The idiom thus serves as a historical caution against letting ability breed contempt.
💡 Example Usage
他虽然才华出众，却怙才骄物，最终失去了所有朋友。
Though exceptionally talented, he looked down on everyone and eventually lost all his friends.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 怙才骄物
- Pinyin: hù cái jiāo wù
- Literal Translation: rely on, talent, be arrogant toward, others
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4