手舞足蹈 (shǒu wǔ zú dǎo) — to dance with joy; to gesticulate excitedly (id…

Definition

A vivid 成语 meaning 'dance with joy / gesticulate excitedly' — used for uncontrolled, whole-body happiness or excitement. Hand gestures (手舞) and foot movements (足蹈) together paint the picture.

idiom

to dance with joyto gesticulate excitedly (idiom)

Examples

。
Tā tīng dào hǎo xiāo xi hòu gāo xìng dé shǒu wǔ zú dǎo.
He was so happy he danced with joy after hearing the good news.
手舞足蹈，。
Hái zi men kàn dào lǐ wù shí shǒu wǔ zú dǎo, xīng fèn jí le.
The children danced with joy when they saw the gifts; they were extremely excited.
手舞足蹈，。
Tā jiǎng xiào hua shí shǒu wǔ zú dǎo, dòu dé dà jiā hā hā dà xiào.
When he told the joke, he gesticulated wildly, making everyone laugh out loud.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

手舞hand dances

手shǒuhand舞wǔdance

主谓Subject + predicate

足蹈feet stamp

足zúfoot蹈dǎostamp

主谓Subject + predicate

The hands 舞 and feet 蹈 move together, showing excited joy.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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

舛舛chuǎnsteps, feet in convergent direction

Sound part声符shēngfú

無

無wú舞wǔ

Same sound today

舞 combines 舛, showing feet in converging steps, with 無 above. 無 gave the sound and also preserved its older meaning of dancing, so the shape points to dancing.

Open 舞 →

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

足 was originally drawn as a leg.

Open 足 →

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

足足zú

Sound part声符shēngfú

舀

舀yǎo蹈dǎo

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

蹈 is made of 足, a foot, and 舀; the foot part shows it is about foot actions, and 舀 gives the sound.