一动不动 (yí dòng-bú dòng) — motionless; not moving at all

Definition

A vivid, literal-phrase way to say 'completely still, not moving a muscle.' Unlike 无动于衷, it describes physical stillness, not emotional indifference.

phrase

motionlessnot moving at all

Examples

一动不动，。
Tā zhàn zài chuāng kǒu yí dòng-bú dòng, hǎo xiàng zài sī kǎo shén me.
He stood motionless at the window, as if thinking about something.
一动不动。
Nà zhī māo yí dòng-bú dòng dì dīng zhe lǎo shǔ dòng.
The cat stared motionless at the mouse hole.
，一动不动。
Tīng dào qiāng shēng hòu, suǒ yǒu rén dōu xià dé yí dòng-bú dòng.
After hearing the gunshot, everyone was frozen motionless with fear.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

一动one movement

一yīone动dòngmovement

偏正Modifier + head

不动not moving

不bùnot动dòngmove

偏正Modifier + head

'一' and '动' give one movement; '不' and '动' give not moving, so even a single movement is absent.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 動; 动 is its simplified writing.

重力動

Meaning part形符xíngfú

力力lìstrength

Sound part声符shēngfú

重

重zhòng動dòng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 動 uses 力 (strength) and 重 as a sound part; 重 refers to a heavy bag ready to be moved by a human. This note is about 動, not 动.

Open 动 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →