名不副实 — Chinese idiom

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.