贵人多忘事 — “It refers to influential or busy people who tend to forget things”

贵人多忘事 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “it refers to influential or busy people who tend to forget things”. Often old acquaintances or past favors, due to their elevated status or preoccupation. It can be used literally to describe someone who is simply forgetful, or satirically to imply arrogance or neglect of old friends after gaining power. Literally, “Noble people often forget things”.

Frequency

贵人多忘事 Pronunciation and Pinyin

贵人多忘事 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
贵	guì	9	expensive, valuable, noble
人	rén	2	human being, person
多	duō	6	many, much, more
忘	wàng	7	to forget
事	shì	8	matter, event, or undertaking

Example Sentence with 贵人多忘事

他最近忙于新项目，真是“贵人多忘事”，连约好的午餐时间都忘了。

He's been so busy with the new project lately, truly a case of "important people easily forget things"; he even forgot our lunch appointment.

Origin and Story of 贵人多忘事

During the Tang Dynasty, Wang Lingran, though having passed the imperial examination, had not yet been appointed to an official position. He pondered day and night how to enter officialdom. He remembered having once interacted with Gao Changyu, a Censor-in-chief, but Gao Changyu seemed to have forgotten him after becoming an official.

So, Wang Lingran wrote a letter to Gao Changyu. In a somewhat threatening tone, he warned that if one were to forget old friends after becoming an important official, those friends might retaliate in kind when they themselves gain power in the future.