无碍 (wú ài) — unimpeded; without obstruction; smoothly

Definition

Literary/formal word meaning 'unimpeded, smooth' — used in written prose or Buddhist contexts (e.g. 圆融无碍) rather than everyday speech, where 顺利 is the natural choice.

verb
unimpededwithout obstructionsmoothly

Examples

  • 无碍，。
    Jiāo tōng wú ài, yí lù shùn chàng.
    The traffic is unimpeded, and the whole journey goes smoothly.
  • ，无碍。
    Zhǐ yào xīn tài píng hé, xíng shì zì rán wú ài.
    As long as your mindset is calm, your actions will naturally be unimpeded.
  • ，无碍。
    Tā xiū xí fó fǎ duō nián, yǐ zhèng dé yuán róng wú ài de jìng jiè.
    After years of practicing Buddhism, he has attained a state of perfect unimpededness.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

无wúwithout
碍àiobstruction

无 denies the presence of 碍, obstruction, so the meaning is unimpeded.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 礙; 碍 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
石石shí
Sound part声符shēngfú
疑
疑yí礙ài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 礙 combines 石 (stone) with 疑 as a sound part.

Open 碍 →

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