The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

任人唯亲

rèn rén wéi qīndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(idiom) to practice nepotism or cronyism in making appointments
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-b15c41e46b773729. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

任人唯親 任人唯亲 [ren4 ren2 wei2 qin1] /(idiom) to practice nepotism or cronyism in making appointments/

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.

Other forms in these source records: 任人唯親

  • 任
    rèn

    to assign / to appoint / to take up a post / office / responsibility / to let / to allow / to give free rein to / no matter (how, what etc) / classifier for terms served in office, or for spouses, girlfriends etc (as in 前任男友)

    Rén

    surname Ren

  • 人
  • 唯
    wéi

    only / alone / -ism (in Chinese, a prefix, often combined with a suffix such as 主義|主义[zhǔ yì] or 論|论[lùn], e.g. 唯理論|唯理论[wéi lǐ lùn], rationalism)

    wěi

    yes

  • 亲
    qīn

    parent / one's own (flesh and blood) / relative / related / marriage / bride / close / intimate / in person / first-hand / in favor of / pro- / to kiss / (Internet slang) dear

    qìng

    parents-in-law of one's offspring

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.