📖 Meaning
Speaking and acting in contradictory ways. It describes someone whose words do not match their deeds, revealing a fundamental inconsistency between what they profess and what they actually do.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom does not originate from a single classical text or historical anecdote. It is a compound formed from the common terms 言行 (words and deeds) and 相悖 (mutually contradictory), both deeply rooted in Chinese philosophical tradition. The ideal of unity between words and actions was a recurring theme throughout Chinese intellectual history, from Confucius's emphasis on sincerity in the Analects to later Neo-Confucian moral philosophy, which stressed that a person of integrity must never say one thing and do another.
💡 Example Usage
他整日高谈诚信，自己却言行相悖，实在令人失望。
He talks endlessly about integrity, yet his own words and deeds contradict each other, which is truly disappointing.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 言行相悖
- Pinyin: yán xíng xiāng bèi
- Literal Translation: words, actions, mutually, contradict
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4