叶公好龙

Traditional: 葉公好龍

Yè Gōng hào lóng

Dictionary entry

lit. Lord Ye's passion for dragons (idiom)

What does 叶公好龙 mean?

叶公好龙 (Yè Gōng hào lóng) has the following dictionary meaning.

1lit. Lord Ye's passion for dragons (idiom)

2fig. to pretend to be fond of sth while actually fearing it

3ostensible fondness of sth one really fears

Character breakdown

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叶xiéto be in harmony 公gōngpublic · collectively owned 好hǎogood · appropriate; proper 龙Lóngsurname Long

Reviewed examples

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How to pronounce 叶公好龙

叶公好龙

Yè Gōng hào lóng

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Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.