人心不足蛇吞象 — “Refers to insatiable human greed”
人心不足蛇吞象 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to insatiable human greed”. Illustrating that one's desires can grow to an impossible extent, like a snake attempting to swallow an elephant, often leading to detrimental consequences. Literally, “Human desires are never satisfied; a snake tries to swallow an elephant”.
人心不足蛇吞象 Pronunciation and Pinyin
人心不足蛇吞象 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 人心不足蛇吞象
Origin and Story of 人心不足蛇吞象
Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a poor hunter named A Xiang. While hunting in the forest, he rescued a small snake that had fainted from hunger. He took it home and carefully nursed it back to health.
The little snake grew into a green snake and became intelligent, often bringing him valuable items from outside to repay his kindness.
However, A Xiang repeatedly demanded more from the green snake, hoping to become extremely wealthy.
Eventually, the enraged green snake, unable to tolerate his insatiable greed, swallowed the avaricious hunter whole.
Idioms Related to 人心不足蛇吞象
Synonyms of 人心不足蛇吞象
Antonyms of 人心不足蛇吞象
More idioms starting with 人
- rén人yī一jǐ己bǎi百make hundredfold effort to catch up
- rén人dīng丁xīng兴wàng旺a flourishing and growing family
- rén人bù不wèi为jǐ己，，tiān天zhū诛dì地miè灭Heaven and Earth condemn the unselfish
- rén人bù不rén人，，guǐ鬼bù不guǐ鬼looking ghastly or grotesque
- rén人bù不kě可mào貌xiàng相Don't judge a person by appearance
- rén人bù不kě可mào貌xiàng相，，hǎi海shuǐ水bù不kě可dǒu斗liáng量Never judge a person by appearance
- rén人bù不fàn犯wǒ我，，wǒ我bù不fàn犯rén人I will not offend unless offended
- rén人bù不zhī知，，guǐ鬼bù不jué觉done in complete secrecy
- rén人bù不liáo聊shēng生people can't make a living
- rén人bù不zì自ān安people are feeling uneasy
- rén人shì世cāng沧sāng桑the vicissitudes of human life
- rén人zhōng中zhī之lóng龙an outstanding person
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Open the tool →Questions about 人心不足蛇吞象
What does 人心不足蛇吞象 mean?
人心不足蛇吞象 (rén xīn bù zú shé tūn xiàng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to insatiable human greed”.
How do you pronounce 人心不足蛇吞象?
人心不足蛇吞象 is pronounced rén xīn bù zú shé tūn xiàng in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 人心不足蛇吞象 literally mean?
Literally, 人心不足蛇吞象 means “Human desires are never satisfied; a snake tries to swallow an elephant”. It is used to mean “refers to insatiable human greed”.
Where does 人心不足蛇吞象 come from?
人心不足蛇吞象 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 人心不足蛇吞象?
比喻人贪心不足，就象蛇想吞食大象一样。