一意孤行 (yī yì gū xíng) — (idiom) to insist on doing things one's own way; to be willful and refuse to listen to others

Definition

Strong negative idiom: to stubbornly go one's own way, ignoring all advice. Emphasizes willful, self-isolated decision-making — stronger than merely having one's own opinion.

idiom
to insist on doing things one's own wayto be willful and refuse to listen to others

Examples

  • 一意孤行,,。
    Tā yī yì gū xíng, cóng bù tīng bié rén de jiàn yì, zuì hòu shī bài le.
    He stuck to his own way, never listened to others' advice, and ultimately failed.
  • 一意孤行,。
    Guǎn lǐ zhě rú guǒ yī yì gū xíng, tuán duì hěn kuài jiù huì shī qù níng jù lì.
    If a manager goes his own way stubbornly, the team will quickly lose cohesion.
  • 一意孤行,。
    Nǐ bù néng zhè yàng yī yì gū xíng, tīng tīng dà jiā de yì jiàn zài zuò jué dìng ba.
    You can't be so headstrong — listen to everyone's opinions before making a decision.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

一意single-minded
一yīone意yìintention
偏正Modifier + head
孤行act alone
偏正Modifier + head

“一意” means single-minded, and “孤行” means acting alone, describing insistence on one's own way.

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
子子zǐchild
Sound part声符shēngfú
瓜
瓜guā孤gū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

孤 uses 子 (child) to show a child, and 瓜 to give the sound.

Open 孤 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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