Definition
This four-character idiom literally means 'the noisy guest takes the host's place.' You use it when something secondary or extraneous overshadows or replaces the main element — for example, a minor detail dominating a discussion, or a decorative element overwhelming the product it's supposed to highlight. It's a fixed expression used as a verb or noun in speech and writing.
f.e.
to steal the showto let the secondary overshadow the primary(of a detail, decoration, etc.) to be so prominent that it overwhelms the main focus
Examples
- ，喧宾夺主。Zhège bàogào de zhǔtí bù tūchū, cìyào shùjù wánquán xuān bīn duó zhǔ le.The report's theme isn't prominent — the secondary data completely stole the show.
- ，喧宾夺主。Shèjì guǎnggào shí yào zhùyì, bù néng ràng bèijǐng tú'àn xuān bīn duó zhǔ.When designing an ad, be careful not to let the background pattern overshadow the main message.
- ，喧宾夺主。Tāmen zài huì shàng tǎolùn xìjié tài duō, yǒu xuān bīn duó zhǔ zhī xián.They spent too much time on details in the meeting, which risked letting the trivial outweigh the important.
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