名不副实 — Chinese idiom
名不副实
míng bù fù shí
Traditional: 名不副實
Meaning
- the name does not reflect the reality ; more in name than in fact
- Reality does not live up to the name.
- Excellent theory, but the practice does not bear it out.
Character by character
- 名míngname; position, rank, title
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 副fùto assist, to supplement; assistant; secondary; au
- 实shíreal, true; honest, sincere
Idioms sharing a character
- 一举成名 yī jǔ chéng míng
- 久仰大名 jiǔ yǎng dà míng
- 人如其名 rén rú qí míng
- 冒名顶替 mào míng dǐng tì
- 功名利禄 gōng míng lì lù
- 功成名就 gōng chéng míng jiù
- 名不符实 míng bù fú shí
- 名不虚传 míng bù xū chuán
- 名利双收 míng lì shuāng shōu
- 名副其实 míng fù qí shí
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.