滥竽充数 — Chinese idiom

Meaning

• lit. to play the yu 竽 mouth organ to make up numbers ; fig. to make up the numbers with inferior products
• to masquerade as having an ability
• token member of a group

Character by character

• 滥lànto flood, to overflow; excessive
• 竽yúfree reed mouth organ
• 充chōngto fill, to supply; to be full
• 数shùcount, number, several

Idioms sharing a character

• 宁缺毋滥 nìng quē wú làn
• 泛滥成灾 fàn làn chéng zāi
• 滥杀无辜 làn shā wú gū
• 粗制滥造 cū zhì làn zào
• 充耳不闻 chōng ěr bù wén
• 汗牛充栋 hàn niú chōng dòng
• 漏脯充饥 lòu fǔ chōng jī
• 画饼充饥 huà bǐng chōng jī
• 装傻充愣 zhuāng shǎ chōng lèng
• 一夕数惊 yī xī shù jīng

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.