pride comes before a fall; an arrogant army is bound to lose
A yojijukugo proverb warning that overconfidence and arrogance inevitably lead to defeat. Often used as a cautionary saying rather than in everyday conversation.
Let's take the saying 'pride comes before a fall' to heart and never let our guard down.
油断大敵 warns against carelessness in general, while 驕兵必敗 specifically targets arrogance and overconfidence as the cause of defeat.
A yojijukugo of Chinese origin, composed of 驕 (arrogant), 兵 (soldier/army), 必 (inevitably), and 敗 (defeat). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it reflects a classical proverb about the dangers of hubris in warfare.