大权独揽

dà quán dú lǎn

to keep all power in one’s own hands

Character by character

大dà
great

权quán
power

独dú
alone

揽lǎn
grasp

这位老板大权独揽，公司里大事小事都得他一个人说了算。

The boss keeps all the power to himself: every decision in the company, big or small, is his alone.

Tone: negative (criticism).

Critical when said of rulers, bosses or chairmen who share no decisions; the opposite is 分权 (to share or divide power). Also found in the order 独揽大权.

Learn this in Lesson 199 · HSK 7–9: 1913年的国会 (The parliament of 1913)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.