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一丝不苟 (yī sī bù gǒu) — meticulous; scrupulous about every detail

Definition

Idiom for working 'meticulously' on every tiny detail — stronger and more literary than the everyday adjective 仔细, and used for a person's attitude toward a task rather than a process (compare 有条不紊).

phrase
meticulousscrupulous about every detail

Examples

  • 一丝不苟，。
    Tā zuò shì yī sī bù gǒu, cóng bù mǎ hu.
    He works meticulously, never sloppy.
  • 一丝不苟。
    Zhè wèi jiào shòu duì xué shēng de lùn wén yāo qiú yī sī bù gǒu.
    This professor is meticulous about his students' theses.
  • 一丝不苟。
    Tā yī sī bù gǒu dì wán chéng le suǒ yǒu rèn wu.
    She completed all tasks meticulously.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

一丝one thread
一yīone丝sīthread
偏正Modifier + head
不苟not careless
不bùnot苟gǒucareless
偏正Modifier + head

One thread and not careless together picture leaving nothing sloppy, hence meticulous.

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 絲; 丝 is its simplified writing.

  • 糸糸mì
  • 糸糸mì

In the traditional form 絲, the shape is two 糸 written together; this is about 絲, not the simplified 丝.

Open 丝 →

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
句
句jù苟gǒu
Same sound today

The top 艹 in 苟 relates to plants, and the bottom 句 gives the pronunciation. The original sense was a kind of grass.

Open 苟 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Idioms & Set PhrasesPersonality & Traits

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