弄虚作假

• Pinyin: nòng xū zuò jiǎ
• Hanzi breakdown: 弄 = 王 (king/jade) + 廾 (two hands) — hands manipulating something; 虚 = 虍 (tiger) + 丘 (hill) — empty like a hollow; 作 = 亻 (person) + 乍 (suddenly) — a person acting; 假 = 亻 (person) + 叚 (borrow/false) — a person borrowing falseness

Meaning

To engage in fraud and deception; to falsify; to create false appearances. An idiomatic four-character phrase (成语).

A chengyu used across official, legal, and everyday contexts to denounce falsification of data, credentials, or reports. Common in political discourse, official warnings, and journalism. Carries strong condemnation.

Examples

1. 任何企业在申报财务数据时弄虚作假，一经查实将面临吊销营业执照和高额罚款的严厉惩处。 Any company that falsifies its financial data when reporting it—once verified—will face severe penalties, including revocation of its business license and heavy fines.
2. 考试中弄虚作假的行为不仅损害了教育公平，也会对当事人的诚信记录造成难以消除的负面影响。 Cheating on exams not only undermines educational fairness, but can also leave a lasting stain on the person’s integrity record.
3. 监察部门严厉警告，任何官员如在政绩考核中弄虚作假，将依规依纪予以严肃处理。 The oversight authorities issued a stern warning: any official who falsifies results in performance evaluations will be dealt with strictly according to discipline and regulations.

Usage Guide

Context: law, politics, business, education

Tone: negative

Do Say

• 主管部门通报称，该企业在环评报告中存在严重的弄虚作假行为，已责令其停产整改，相关责任人也将依法追究刑事责任。(The regulatory authority announced that the company had engaged in serious falsification in its environmental impact assessment report — it has been ordered to halt production and rectify the situation, and those responsible will be held criminally liable in accordance with the law.)
• 学术诚信是科研工作的基石，任何弄虚作假的行为都是对科学精神的严重背叛，必须受到学术共同体的坚决抵制。(Academic integrity is the cornerstone of scientific research — any act of falsification is a grave betrayal of the scientific spirit and must be resolutely rejected by the academic community.)

Don't Say

• 将'弄虚作假'用于轻描淡写的小事或玩笑语境，如'你别弄虚作假，说说你真实的喜好' — 弄虚作假 is a serious accusation of deliberate fraud; for casual contexts of playful deception, use 撒谎 or 开玩笑 instead

Origin & History

弄 (to play with/manipulate) + 虚 (empty/false) + 作 (to make/do) + 假 (fake/false) — to manipulate falsehood and manufacture fakery

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal