成王败寇
chéng​wáng​bài​kòu

to the victor go the spoils

  • created sense approved 成王败寇/成王敗寇 · chéng​wáng​bài​kòu · to the victor go the spoils — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    成王败寇 / 成王敗寇

    chéng​wáng​bài​kòu

    to the victor go the spoils

    Literal meaning is "become a king if successful, or a bandit if defeated"; describes the reality that winners are viewed as righteous while losers are always seen as being in the wrong.

    成 (literal) → 成 · chéng · to succeed 王 (literal) → 王 · wáng · king 败 (literal) → 败/敗 · bài · to be defeated 寇 (literal) → 寇 · kòu · bandit; invader

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

    created sense