居高临下 — Chinese idiom
居高临下
jū gāo lín xià
Traditional: 居高臨下
Meaning
- lit. to be in a high location, overlooking the scene below
- fig. to occupy a commanding position
- to assume a haughty attitude
Character by character
- 居jūto live, to reside; to dwell; to sit
- 高gāotall, lofty; high, elevated
- 临línto draw near, to approach; to descend
- 下xiàbelow, underneath; inferior; to bring down; next
Idioms sharing a character
- 功成不居 gōng chéng bù jū
- 安居乐业 ān jū lè yè
- 居功自傲 jū gōng zì ào
- 居安思危 jū ān sī wēi
- 居心不良 jū xīn bù liáng
- 居心叵测 jū xīn pǒ cè
- 居无定所 jū wú dìng suǒ
- 后来居上 hòu lái jū shàng
- 翘居群首 qiáo jū qún shǒu
- 起居作息 qǐ jū zuò xī
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.