不怕贼偷就怕贼惦记
bù​pà​zéi​tōu​jiù​pà​zéi​diàn​jì

less afraid of the theft than of the thief's constant interest

  • created sense approved 不怕贼偷就怕贼惦记/不怕賊偷就怕賊惦記 · bù​pà​zéi​tōu​jiù​pà​zéi​diàn​jì · less afraid of the theft than of the thief's constant interest — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    不怕贼偷就怕贼惦记 / 不怕賊偷就怕賊惦記

    bù​pà​zéi​tōu​jiù​pà​zéi​diàn​jì

    less afraid of the theft than of the thief's constant interest

    less worried about being robbed than about a thief having their sights set on you; it is more dangerous when someone is constantly plotting or waiting for an opportunity to do harm than the harm itself (idiom)

    不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 怕 (literal) → 怕 · pà · to fear 贼 (literal) → 贼/賊 · zéi · thief 偷 (literal) → 偷 · tōu · to steal 就 (literal) → 就 · jiù · then 怕 (literal) → 怕 · pà · to fear 贼 (literal) → 贼/賊 · zéi · thief 惦记 (literal) → 惦记/惦記 · diàn​jì · to keep in mind

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense