大喜过望 — “To be overjoyed and pleasantly surprised”
大喜过望 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be overjoyed and pleasantly surprised”. Finding the outcome far better than one had hoped for or expected. Literally, “Great joy beyond expectation”.
大喜过望 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 大dà
- 喜xǐ
- 过guò
- 望wàng
大喜过望 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 大喜过望
Origin and Story of 大喜过望
During the Chu-Han Contention, Ying Bu, who had been appointed King of Jiujiang by Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, was stripped of his title after suffering a defeat. Liu Bang then dispatched Sui He to persuade Ying Bu to defect to his side.
Ying Bu eventually rebelled against Xiang Yu but was defeated, forcing him to flee alone to Liu Bang. When Liu Bang received Ying Bu, he was having his feet washed, which made Ying Bu feel disrespected and regretful about his decision to join Liu Bang.
However, upon returning to his assigned residence, Ying Bu was astonished to discover that his living quarters, attendants, and meals were all of the same high standard as Liu Bang's. This level of treatment was far beyond anything he had anticipated or hoped for, and he was consequently filled with great joy and pleasant surprise.
Idioms Related to 大喜过望
Synonyms of 大喜过望
More idioms starting with 大
- dà大zhōng中zhì至zhèng正utterly fair and impartial
- dà大jǔ举jìn进gōng攻launch a large-scale attack
- dà大yì义lǐn凛rán然awe-inspiring righteousness
- dà大yì义miè灭qīn亲uphold justice over family loyalty
- dà大shū书tè特shū书write about with great emphasis
- dà大shì事bù不hú糊tú涂clear-headed in important affairs
- dà大shì事huà化xiǎo小reduce a major problem to a minor one
- dà大shì事huà化xiǎo小，，xiǎo小shì事huà化wú无reduce big problems to nothing
- dà大shì事qù去yǐ矣Major matters are beyond recovery
- dà大shì事wán完bì毕major tasks completed
- dà大shì事yǐ已rán然The major event is already done
- dà大shì事pū铺zhāng张make an extravagant display for big events
Questions about 大喜过望
- What does 大喜过望 mean?
- 大喜过望 (dà xǐ guò wàng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be overjoyed and pleasantly surprised”.
- How do you pronounce 大喜过望?
- 大喜过望 is pronounced dà xǐ guò wàng in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 大喜过望 literally mean?
- Literally, 大喜过望 means “Great joy beyond expectation”. It is used to mean “to be overjoyed and pleasantly surprised”.
- Where does 大喜过望 come from?
- 大喜过望 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 大喜过望?
- 过：超过；望：希望。结果比原来希望的还好，因而感到特别高兴。