红得发紫

红的发紫

Literally means:

the purplish red colour

Actually means:

unimaginably powerful or popular

There are nine official ranks in an ancient Chinese court, the first being the highest rank while the ninth the lowest. Officials with different ranks wear uniforms in different colors. Officials who rank higher than the third grade wear purple uniforms while those holding the fourth or the fifth ranks wear red. Therefore, the phrase was used in the past to refer to officials who kept being promoted. In modern usage, it refers to a person with great power or with his/her superior's biased favor and unlimited trust. In addition, it refers to the people who become famous and popular, especially the entertaining and sports stars. Derogatory when referring to the person with power or with his/her superior's biased favor and unlimited trust. It sometimes means that the good fortune peaked and the decline is not far away.

中国古代官位由高到低分为一品到九品。不同等级的官员穿不同颜色的官服。三品以上穿紫色官服，四品五品穿红色官服。因此，从前人们用“红得发紫”来形容官位不断提升的人。现在常指一个人获得很大的权势，或受到上级的偏山爱和过分的信任，也指出了名并受人们重视或欢迎的人，特别是娱乐界和体育界走红的明星。指获得很大的权势或受到偏爱和过分信任时多含有贬义。有时可表示好运快走到尽头了，离衰败不远了。