📖 Meaning
Describes a person who is extremely fierce, cruel, and perverse in temperament. The imagery compares such a person to a bird of prey and a wolf—savage, ruthless, and unreasonable. It conveys a temperament that is both violent and erratic.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the History of Jin (金史), compiled by the Yuan-dynasty scholar Tuotuo. In Volume 111, it is used to describe a military commander whose nature was fierce, cruel, and perverse. The text notes that he liked to associate with petty, disreputable people and refused to submit to the authority and control of the imperial court.
💡 Example Usage
这个恶霸生性鸷狠狼戾，欺压百姓无恶不作。
This local tyrant was by nature fierce, cruel, and perverse, oppressing the common people and committing every kind of evil.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 鸷狠狼戾
- Pinyin: zhì hěn láng lì
- Literal Translation: fierce bird of prey, ruthless, wolf, perverse
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4