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无所作为 (wú suǒ zuò wéi) — (chengyu) doing nothing and accomplishing nothing; lacking initiative or drive; feckless

Definition

A chengyu for 'accomplishing nothing' — focuses on lacking drive and initiative over a stretch of time. Contrast with 无所事事 (just idle, moment to moment) and 一事无成 (a life that produced no results).

phrase
(chengyu) doing nothing and accomplishing nothinglacking initiative or drivefeckless

Examples

  • 无所作为，。
    Tā zhěng tiān wú suǒ zuò wéi, yì diǎn shàng jìn xīn dōu méi yǒu.
    He does nothing all day and doesn't have any ambition.
  • 无所作为，。
    Wǒ men bú yīng gāi mǎn zú yú wú suǒ zuò wéi, yào bú duàn jìn bù.
    We shouldn't be content with doing nothing; we must keep improving.
  • 无所作为。
    Zhè ge tuán duì yīn wèi wú suǒ zuò wéi ér bèi jiě sàn le.
    This team was disbanded because it achieved nothing.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

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
斤斤jīnaxe
Sound part声符shēngfú
戶
戶hù所suǒ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

所 pairs 斤, an axe, with 戶, which gives the sound hù; the old meaning was the sound of logging.

Open 所 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 為; 为 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 為 showed a hand holding an elephant; the simplified 为 is a later shorthand.

Open 为 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set PhrasesSuccess & Failure

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