📖 Meaning
Eager to achieve quick success while chasing superficial reputation. It describes someone who prioritizes rapid results and vanity over steady, substantive effort. The term carries a negative connotation toward such short-sighted ambition.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no single classical source and is a later compound formed in the mold of the older, better-attested phrase 急功近利 (eager for quick success and immediate gain). By replacing 利 (profit) with 名 (fame), it narrows the focus to those who rush toward public recognition rather than material reward. It appears in modern literary and critical writing to characterize officials, scholars, or entrepreneurs who chase renown without putting in the patient groundwork. No specific dynasty or historical figure is reliably associated with its coinage.
💡 Example Usage
他做事急功近名，结果反而一事无成。
He was so eager for quick success and fame that he ended up accomplishing nothing.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 急功近名
- Pinyin: jí gōng jìn míng
- Literal Translation: impatient for, merit, close to, fame
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4