Definition
一事无成 (yī shì wú chéng) means 'to have achieved nothing' — it focuses on the result of a life or period with no accomplishments. Contrast with 无所事事 (wú suǒ shì shì), which means 'to have nothing to do' (idle state), and 无所作为 (wú suǒ zuò wéi), which means 'to accomplish nothing due to lack of initiative' (feckless).
phrase
to have achieved nothingto be a total failureto get nowhere
Examples
- ，一事无成。Tā niánqīng shí huāngfèi guāngyīn, rújīn yīrán yī shì wú chéng.He wasted his time when young and still hasn't accomplished anything.
- 一事无成，。Wǒ bùxiǎng yí bèizi yī shì wú chéng, suǒyǐ kāishǐ nǔlì chuàngyè.I don't want to achieve nothing in my whole life, so I started striving to build my own business.
- ，一事无成。Jīnglì duō cì shībài hòu, tā juéde zìjǐ yī shì wú chéng.After many failures, he felt he had accomplished nothing.
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