DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

趨炎附勢

简趋炎附势 · 繁趨炎附勢

Mandarin · pinyin qū yán fù shì

to curry favor (idiom); playing up to those in power
social climbing

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

趨: Look up this written character
炎: yán · flame, blaze; hot
附: fù · adhere to, append; rely on near to
勢: Look up this written character
趋: qū · hasten, hurry; be attracted to
势: shì · power, force; tendency

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–2–4–4 · qu1 yan2 fu4 shi4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

趨炎附勢 · find source passages ↗ · 趋炎附势 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ceoi1 jim4 fu6 sai3

Cantonese word readings for 趨炎附勢. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to ingratiate oneself with powerful or influential people

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack