Definition
趁火打劫 is a chengyu (four-character idiom) that literally means 'to rob a house while it's on fire'. Figuratively, it describes taking advantage of someone else's crisis or misfortune to gain personal benefit — often in a sneaky or unethical way. You can use it for business, politics, or everyday situations where someone exploits chaos for their own gain.
f.e.
to exploit a crisis for personal gainto take unfair advantage of a difficult situation
Examples
- 趁火打劫，。Zhè jiā gōngsī chèn jìngzhēng duìshǒu pòchǎn shí chèn huǒ dǎ jié, dījià shōugòu le tāmen de héxīn jìshù.This company took advantage of its competitor's bankruptcy to buy up their core technology at a low price.
- ，趁火打劫，。Zāinàn fāshēng hòu, yǒuxiē shāngjiā chèn huǒ dǎ jié, bǎ shēnghuó bìxūpǐn de jiàgé táigāo le hǎo jǐ bèi.After the disaster, some businesses exploited the crisis and raised the prices of daily necessities several times over.
- 趁火打劫，，。Tā chèn péngyou xiànrù kùnjìng shí chèn huǒ dǎ jié, yǐ jí dī de lìxī jiè qián gěi duìfāng, què yāoqiú yòng fángchǎn dǐyā.He took advantage of his friend's predicament, lending money at a very low interest rate but demanding property as collateral.
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