故弄玄虚 (故弄玄虛)
gù nòng xuán xū
Pinyin
Definition
故弄玄虚 (故弄玄虛)
-
- deliberately mystifying
- to make sth unnecessarily complicated
Character Decomposition
Idioms (20)
一改故辙
- 1 complete change from the old rut (idiom); dramatic change of direction
- 2 a volte-face
- 3 to change old practices
他乡遇故知
- 1 meeting an old friend in a foreign place (idiom)
依然如故
- 1 back to where we were (idiom); absolutely no improvement
- 2 Things haven't changed at all.
依然故我
- 1 to be one's old self (idiom)
- 2 to be unchanged
- 3 (derog.) to be stuck in one's ways
吐故纳新
- 1 lit. to breathe out stale air and breathe in fresh (idiom, from Zhuangzi 庄子); fig. to get rid of the old and bring in the new
Sample Sentences
哪来这么多火?我看没什么大不了的。我觉得中医老是故弄玄虚,扯一大堆奇奇怪怪的道理。头疼和牙疼都是神经性的,怎么可能是火?
Where does all that fire come from? I can't see anything too special here. I think traditional Chinese medicine is always intentionally making things mysterious. It pulls together a big bunch of strange arguments. Headaches and toothaches are mental problems. How can they be caused by fire?