📖 Meaning
To speak but fail to keep one's word; to be untrustworthy or insincere in what one says. It describes a person who makes promises or commitments but does not follow through on them.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase derives from classical Confucian teachings on the importance of trustworthiness (信) in human conduct. It appears in the context of the virtue of '信' being one of the five fundamental Confucian moral principles, emphasized by Mencius and earlier in the Analects. The idea that a person who lacks trustworthiness is not fit to stand in society is a recurring theme in pre-Qin philosophical texts.
💡 Example Usage
他答应帮我搬家，结果却言而无信，让我白等了一天。
He promised to help me move, but he broke his word, leaving me waiting all day for nothing.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 言而无信
- Pinyin: yán ér wú xìn
- Literal Translation: speak, but, no, trust
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4