noun
undeserved reward; unearned benefit
Literary or formal term for receiving a reward, salary, or benefit without having earned it. Often carries a negative connotation of unworthiness or idleness. Rare in everyday speech.
彼は素餐の徒と批判された。
He was criticized as a person who receives an undeserved reward.
素餐の禄を食む者は恥じるべきだ。
Those who receive an unearned salary should be ashamed.
徒食 means 'idle eating' or living without working, focusing on laziness. 素餐 emphasizes receiving a reward or salary without merit, often in a formal or literary context.
Composed of 素 (plain, unadorned, mere) and 餐 (to eat, meal). The literal meaning is 'eating plain food' or 'eating without having worked for it,' which extended to the figurative sense of receiving an undeserved reward. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is associated with classical Chinese literature.