滄海遺珠そうかいのいしゅ

noun

hidden gem; unrecognized talent

A yojijukugo (four-character idiom) of Chinese origin, meaning a talented person who remains unknown to the world, like a pearl lost in the vast sea. Rare and literary.

• 彼かれは滄そう海かい遺のい珠しゅとも言いうべき画が家かで、生せい前ぜんはほとんど評ひょう価かされなかった。

  He was a painter who could be called a hidden gem, hardly recognized during his lifetime.

• この作さく品ひんはまさに滄そう海かいの遺い珠しゅ、埋うもれさせるには惜おしい才さい能のうだ。

  This work is truly a pearl lost in the vast sea; it would be a shame to let such talent go unnoticed.