📖 Meaning
To feel ashamed of one's own appearance or bearing when comparing oneself to someone else. It originally referred to feeling ugly or ungainly next to a more handsome, elegant person, but now broadly means to feel inferior to others in any comparison.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from 'A New Account of the Tales of the World' (世说新语), compiled by Liu Yiqing of the Southern Dynasties, in the chapter on demeanor and appearance (容止). Wang Wuzi, a general of the Western Jin, was the maternal uncle of the celebrated beauty Wei Jie, famed for his jade-like good looks. Whenever Wang Wuzi, himself a strikingly handsome and dashing man, saw his nephew, he would sigh, 'With a jewel at my side, I feel my own appearance unworthy.' Over time the phrase widened from looks to any sense of being outclassed by another.
💡 Example Usage
站在那位才华横溢的学者面前，他自觉形秽，半晌说不出话来。
Standing before the brilliantly talented scholar, he felt utterly out of his depth and could not find a word to say.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 自觉形秽
- Pinyin: zì jué xíng huì
- Literal Translation: self, feel, form/appearance, ugly/inferior
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4