司馬昭之心

司马昭之心
Sīmǎ Zhāozhīxīn

evil ambitions that are transparent to everyone

Wiktionary

Entry Composition

1 司馬昭 Sīmǎ Zhāo Sima Zhao (211-265), military general and statesman of Cao Wei 曹魏 Cáo Wèi
2 之 zhī
  1. (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的 de)
  2. him
  3. her
  4. it
3 心 xīn
  1. heart
  2. mind
  3. intention
  4. center
  5. core

classifiers: 顆, 個

Containing this entry

司馬昭之心路人皆知 Sīmǎ Zhāozhīxīnlùrénjiēzhī
  1. lit. Sima Zhao's intentions are obvious to everyone (idiom)
  2. fig. an open secret