📖 Meaning
Describes a person who looks sly, shifty, and untrustworthy. It conveys the impression that someone has an air of sneakiness about them, as if constantly scheming or looking for an opportunity to take advantage. It is almost always used as a derogatory description of someone's outward appearance and perceived character.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom does not have a single classical literary origin story tied to a specific dynasty or figure. It emerged from folk vernacular language in late imperial China, combining two animal-based metaphors: the 'thief's eyebrows' (贼眉), suggesting a calculating, dishonest expression, and 'mouse's eyes' (鼠眼), evoking small, darting, furtive glances. It first appeared in vernacular novels and colloquial writing of the Ming and Qing dynasties, notably in works like Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦), where such vivid physiognomic descriptions were used to signal a character's moral nature through their appearance.
💡 Example Usage
那人贼眉鼠眼地在巷口东张西望，一看就不像什么好人。
With shifty eyes, that man kept glancing around at the mouth of the alley — you could tell at a glance he was no good.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 贼眉鼠眼
- Pinyin: zéi méi shǔ yǎn
- Literal Translation: thief eyebrows, mouse eyes
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4