奋不顾身 (fèn bù gù shēn) — (idiom) to dash forward regardless of personal safety; to be undaunted by danger

Definition

An idiom describing brave action with no thought for one's own safety — used for heroes, soldiers, rescuers. Stronger and more literary than everyday words like 勇敢.

idiom
to dash forward regardless of personal safetyto be undaunted by danger

Examples

  • 奋不顾身。
    Tā fèn bù gù shēn dì chōng jìn huǒ hǎi jiù rén.
    He dashed into the sea of fire regardless of his own safety to save people.
  • ，奋不顾身，。
    Zài zhàn chǎng shàng, shì bīng men fèn bù gù shēn, yīng yǒng shā dí.
    On the battlefield, the soldiers charged forward fearlessly and fought the enemy bravely.
  • ，奋不顾身。
    Wèi le jiù luò shuǐ de hái zi, tā fèn bù gù shēn dì tiào jìn hé lǐ.
    To save the drowning child, he jumped into the river without thinking of his own safety.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 奮; 奋 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 奮 pairs 奞, a bird, with 田, a field, to show a bird spreading its wings to fly; the simplified 奋 is a later abbreviation.

Open 奋 →

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 →

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 顧; 顾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yè
Sound part声符shēngfú
雇
雇gù顧gù
Same sound today

The traditional form 顧 combines 雇 as a sound part and 頁 as a meaning part; 顾 is the simplified form of 顧.

Open 顾 →

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →

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