举世无双 (jǔ shì wú shuāng) — unrivaled, matchless, unparalleled (idiom)

Definition

'Without equal in the whole world' — a formal idiom for something absolutely unique or matchless. Stronger than 独一无二; pairs with art, talent, achievements, and other valued things.

idiom

unrivaledmatchlessunparalleled (idiom)

Examples

，举世无双。
Zhè jiàn yì shù pǐn gōng yì jīng zhàn, kān chēng jǔ shì wú shuāng.
This artwork has exquisite craftsmanship and can be called matchless.
举世无双，。
Tā zài yīn yuè fāng miàn de cái huá jǔ shì wú shuāng, wú rén néng jí.
His talent in music is unparalleled; no one can match him.
，举世无双。
Zhè zuò gǔ chéng bǎo cún wán hǎo, qí lì shǐ jià zhí jǔ shì wú shuāng.
This ancient city is well-preserved, and its historical value is unmatched.

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.

举世whole world

举jǔall世shìworld

偏正Modifier + head

无双no match

无wúlack双shuāngmatch

动宾Verb + object

举世 means the whole world, 无双 means having no equal, so something is unrivaled in the world.

Characters in this word

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 舉; 举 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

與

與yǔ舉jǔ

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 舉 pairs 與, which gives the sound, with 手, a hand; the simplified 举 is a later shorthand.

Open 举 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 世 →

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 →

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

又又双