Chinese word

乘人之危

Pronunciation

Pinyinchéng rén zhī wēi

Meaning

  • idiomtake advantage of weakness

Example

别人失败时不要乘人之危。bié rén shī bài shí bú yào chéng rén zhī wēi

Don't take advantage of others when they fail.

Illustration for 乘人之危 (take advantage of weakness)

More examples

他不是在帮助别人，而是在乘人之危牟利。tā bú shì zài bāng zhù bié rén ér shì zài chéng rén zhī wēi móu lì

He is not helping others but profiting by taking advantage of their weakness.

Core concept

Someone uses another person's vulnerable moment as leverage for private benefit.

Common phrases

  • 乘人之危牟利chéng rén zhī wēi móu lì

    profit by taking advantage of weakness

  • 乘人之危之人chéng rén zhī wēi zhī rén

    person who takes advantage of weakness

  • 以乘人之危为手段yǐ chéng rén zhī wēi wèi shǒu duàn

    use taking advantage of weakness as a means

Similar words

趁虚而入chèn xū ér rù: Enter through a person's weakness or opening to become better off.
趁火打劫chèn huó dǎ jié: Take advantage of disorder or disaster for unfair profit.
趁人之危chèn rén zhī wēi: Use someone's difficult situation to obtain a personal benefit.
落井下石luò jǐng xià shí: Make a difficult situation worse by blaming someone already in trouble.

Definition in Chinese

在他人遭遇不幸或处境不利时，占便宜或利用机会获取私利的贬义成语。zài tā rén zāo yù bú xìng huò chǔ jìng bú lì shí zhàn pián yi huò lì yòng jī huì huò qǔ sī lì de biǎn yì chéng yǔ

Word origin

乘 (chéng, "use an opportunity") + 人 (rén, "person") + 之 (zhī, "connecting marker") + 危 (wēi, "danger") turns another person's crisis into an exploitable opening.

Usage tips

  • In conversation, it sounds like a direct moral accusation, so speakers reserve it for clear cases of unfair conduct rather than mild complaints about opportunism.

Other meanings

  • take advantage of misfortuneidiom

Opposites

  • 雪中送炭xuě zhōng sòng tànhelp someone in needidiom
  • 拔刀相助bá dāo xiāng zhùcome to someone's aididiom

Word lists with this word