📖 Meaning
To look down upon everything and everyone with supreme arrogance. It describes a person so haughty that they regard nobody as their equal and treat all others with open contempt.
📜 Origin Story
The term combines 睥睨 (pì nì), meaning to cast a disdainful sidelong glance, with 一切 (yī qiè), meaning 'everything.' The modern usage is attested in the renowned scholar Ji Xianlin's essay collection 'The Trajectory of Cultural Exchange,' where he explains that he quotes foreign praise of the Chinese not out of nationalistic vanity—to then disdainfully look down upon everything—but to illustrate a point about cultural perception. The expression draws on the classical imagery of 睥睨, an arrogant sideways gaze denoting scorn.
💡 Example Usage
他当了总经理后便睥睨一切，连老同事都不放在眼里。
After becoming general manager, he looked down on everyone and everything, not even taking his old colleagues seriously.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 睥睨一切
- Pinyin: pì nì yī qiè
- Literal Translation: look askance with disdain, everything
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4