bā gāo wàng shàngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to wish for higher status (idiom) / to curry favor in the hope of promotion
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-59219a912cc9d923. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

巴高望上 巴高望上 [ba1 gao1 wang4 shang4] /to wish for higher status (idiom); to curry favor in the hope of promotion/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

  • 巴
    bā

    to long for / to wish / to cling to / to stick to / sth that sticks / close to / next to / spread open / informal abbr. for bus 巴士[bā shì] / bar (unit of pressure) / nominalizing suffix on certain nouns, such as 尾巴[wěi ba], tail

    Bā

    Ba, a state during the Zhou dynasty (in present-day Chongqing and the eastern part of Sichuan) / the east of Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality / surname Ba / (bound form) abbr. for 巴勒斯坦[Bā lè sī tǎn] (Palestine), 巴基斯坦[Bā jī sī tǎn] (Pakistan) or 巴西[Bā xī] (Brazil)

  • 高
    gāo

    high / tall / above average / loud / your (honorific)

    Gāo

    surname Gao

  • 望
    wàng

    full moon / to hope / to expect / to visit / to gaze (into the distance) / to look towards / towards / 15th day of month (lunar calendar)

  • 上
    shǎng

    used in 上聲|上声[shǎng shēng]

    shàng

    (bound form) up / upper / above / previous / first (of multiple parts) / to climb / to get onto / to go up / to attend (class or university) / (directional complement) up / (noun suffix) on / above

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.