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不可思议 (bù kě sī yì) — inconceivable, unimaginable, beyond belief

Definition

An idiom meaning 'inconceivable, beyond belief' — stronger than 难以置信 ('hard to believe'), more about how amazing something seems than 荒唐/荒诞, which judge something as absurd or ridiculous.

phrase
inconceivableunimaginablebeyond belief

Examples

  • ，不可思议。
    Tā néng zài sān tiān nèi wán chéng zhè ge xiàng mù, zhēn shì bù kě sī yì.
    It's truly incredible that he could finish this project in three days.
  • 不可思议。
    Zhè zhǒng chāo zì rán xiàn xiàng duì kē xué jiā lái shuō yě bù kě sī yì.
    This kind of supernatural phenomenon is also beyond belief for scientists.
  • ，不可思议。
    Cóng pín qióng dào fù háo, tā de jīng lì jiǎn zhí bù kě sī yì.
    From poverty to wealth, his experience is simply unimaginable.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不可cannot
不bùnot可kěcan
偏正Modifier + head
思议think and discuss
思sīthink议yìdiscuss
联合Coordinate

不 not, 可 can, 思 think, 议 discuss combine to say something cannot be thought or discussed.

Characters in this word

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
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
丂
丂kǎo可kě
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

可 pairs 口 (mouth) with 丂 as a sound part; it is tied to air from the mouth, perhaps singing.

Open 可 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
囟
囟xìn思sī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 思, 心 (heart) points to thinking, while the top part is a changed form of 囟, which supplied the sound.

Open 思 →

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 議; 议 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yántalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
義
義yì議⁰yì
Same sound today

The traditional form 議 pairs 言 (talk) with 義 as a sound component; the simplified 议 is a later shorthand.

Open 议 →
Appears in
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