Chinese idiom · 成语
欲盖弥彰
Meaning
Trying to hide makes it clearer; cover-ups expose truth.
Character by character
Origin and story
Historical commentaryThe Zuo Commentary, Duke Zhao's thirty-first year, discusses Hei Gong of Zhu, who defected to Lu while bringing the territory of Lan with him. The commentary explains why someone of relatively low rank was nevertheless named in the record: the transfer of land made his wrongdoing worth recording.
Its moral reflection observes that some seek fame without obtaining it, while others try to conceal themselves and instead become known. The original wording is 欲盖而名章, not the exact modern four-character phrase. The later idiom sharpens that irony: an effort to cover up a fault can draw attention to it and make it more obvious.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
他删掉投诉留言，又声称从来没人投诉，这样做反而欲盖弥彰。
He deleted the complaints and then claimed nobody had ever complained; the cover-up only made the problem more obvious.
Critical: an attempted concealment exposes the very fault it was meant to hide.