📖 Meaning
This idiom describes a person who is both greedy for gain and utterly untrustworthy. It portrays a character in which the lust for profit overrides every promise or obligation undertaken. It is used as a sharp condemnation of someone whose word cannot be relied on precisely because self-interest always comes first.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the Eastern Han dynasty scholar and official Ying Shao, appearing in his essay Xianbei Hu Shi Yi (Discussion on Trade with the Xianbei). Writing about border trade policy, Ying Shao characterized the Xianbei as nomads living north of the desert beyond the Gobi, herding dogs and sheep in bands with no rulers, chiefs, or settled villages. He argued that it was their very nature to be greedy yet lacking in good faith, and used this judgment to caution the Han court about the risks of opening markets to them. The line has survived as a general indictment of avaricious, promise-breaking conduct rather than as commentary on any one people.
💡 Example Usage
他为人贪而无信，答应的事总是反悔，没人愿意再和他做生意。
Greedy and untrustworthy, he always goes back on his word, so no one is willing to do business with him anymore.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 贪而无信
- Pinyin: tān ér wú xìn
- Literal Translation: greedy, yet, without, faith
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4