金玉其外，败絮其中
jīn​yù​qí​wài​bài​xù​qí​zhōng

fair without and foul within

  • created sense approved 金玉其外，败絮其中/金玉其外，敗絮其中 · jīn​yù​qí​wài​bài​xù​qí​zhōng · fair without and foul within — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    金玉其外，败絮其中 / 金玉其外，敗絮其中

    jīn​yù​qí​wài​bài​xù​qí​zhōng

    fair without and foul within

    (idiom) a gilded exterior but shabby and ruined on the inside; refers to something that looks beautiful or high-quality on the surface but is actually rotten or worthless underneath

    金玉 (literal) → 金玉 · jīn​yù · gold and jade 其外 (literal) → 其外 · qí​wài · outside ， (non_chinese) 败絮 (literal) → 败絮/敗絮 · bài​xù · waste cotton 其中 (literal) → 其中 · qí​zhōng · among them

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

    created sense