不知天高地厚 bù zhī tiān gāo dì hòu overconfident

Explanation

形容人狂妄自大，不知道自己的能力和地位。

Describes someone arrogant and overconfident, unaware of their own abilities and position.

Origin Story

话说很久以前，有一个名叫小强的年轻人，从小就天资聪颖，学习刻苦，很快就掌握了很多知识和技能。他变得非常自负，觉得自己无所不能，于是开始目中无人，瞧不起任何人。一次，他参加了县里举办的武术比赛。他对手是一位经验丰富的武林高手，小强轻敌冒进，结果被对手打得落花流水，颜面尽失。从此之后，小强才明白自己有多么不知天高地厚，从此变得谦虚谨慎起来。

huà shuō hěn jiǔ yǐ qián, yǒu yīgè míng jiào xiǎo qiáng de nián qīng rén, cóng xiǎo jiù tiān zī cōng yǐng, xué xí kè kǔ, hěn kuài jiù zhǎng wò le hěn duō zhī shì hé jì néng. tā biàn de fēi cháng zì fù, jué de zì jǐ wú suǒ bù néng, yú shì kāi shǐ mù zhōng wú rén, qiáo bù qǐ rènhé rén. yī cì, tā cān jiā le xiàn lǐ jǔ bàn de wǔ shù bǐ sài. tā duì shǒu shì yī wèi jīng yàn fēng fù de wǔ lín gāo shǒu, xiǎo qiáng qīng dí mào jìn, jié guǒ bèi duì shǒu dǎ de luò huā liú shuǐ, yán miàn jìn shī. cóng cǐ zhī hòu, xiǎo qiáng cái míng bái zì jǐ yǒu duō me bù zhī tiān gāo dì hòu, cóng cǐ biàn de qiān xū jǐn shèn qǐ lái.

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Xiaoqiang who was naturally intelligent and diligent, quickly mastering a lot of knowledge and skills. He became very self-confident and thought he could do anything, so he began to look down on everyone. Once, he participated in a martial arts competition held by the county. His opponent was an experienced martial arts master, Xiaoqiang was careless and rushed in, and ended up being defeated by his opponent and losing face. From then on, Xiaoqiang understood how overconfident he was and became humble and cautious.

Usage

常用作谓语、定语，形容人狂妄自大，不知天高地厚。

cháng yòng zuò wèi yǔ, dìng yǔ, xiāo róng rén kuáng wàng zì dà, bù zhī tiān gāo dì hòu

Often used as a predicate or attributive to describe someone arrogant and overconfident.

Examples

• 他不知天高地厚，竟敢挑战权威。

  tā bù zhī tiān gāo dì hòu, jìng gǎn tiǎo zhàn quánwēi

  He is so audacious that he dares to challenge authority.

• 年轻人不知天高地厚，容易犯错。

  nián qīng rén bù zhī tiān gāo dì hòu, róng yì fàn cuò

  Young people are often overconfident and make mistakes easily.

• 他不知天高地厚地夸下海口，最终却无法兑现承诺。

  tā bù zhī tiān gāo dì hòu de kuā xià hǎikǒu, zuì zhōng què wú fǎ duìxiàn chéngnuò

  He boasted immodestly and ultimately failed to keep his promise.

Related Idioms

• 狂妄自大

• 自以为是

• 目中无人

Opposite Idioms

• 谦虚谨慎

• 虚心好学