大逆不道 (dà nì bú dào) — treason and heresy; an unforgivable, rebellious act; (figuratively) the gravest offense, outrageously wrong

Definition

An idiom for the worst possible offense — literally 'great rebellion, lacking the Way.' Used for acts that are wildly immoral or treasonous, not for minor wrongdoing.

idiom
treason and heresyan unforgivablerebellious act(figuratively) the gravest offenseoutrageously wrong

Examples

  • ，大逆不道。
    Zài fēng jiàn shè huì, shì jūn bèi shì wéi dà nì bú dào de xíng wéi.
    In feudal society, regicide was regarded as an act of high treason.
  • ，大逆不道。
    Tā jìng rán gōng kāi fǎn duì fù mǔ de ān pái, dà jiā dōu shuō tā dà nì bú dào.
    He openly defied his parents' arrangement, and everyone said he was terribly unfilial.
  • ，大逆不道。
    Wǎng luò shàng liú chuán de yáo yán duì yīng xióng jìn xíng wǔ rǔ, jiǎn zhí dà nì bú dào.
    The rumors circulating online insulting the hero were nothing short of an outrageous offense.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

大逆great rebellion
大dàgreat逆nìrebellion
偏正Modifier + head
不道not the Way
不bùnot道dàoWay
偏正Modifier + head

The two parts 大逆 and 不道 work together: 大逆 points to a great rebellion, while 不道 points to turning away from the moral Way. The idiom therefore names the gravest offense against loyalty and propriety.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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

  • 辶辵chuòmovement
  • 屰屰nìgo against

The 辶 part shows movement, and 屰 gives the sound and the sense of going against, so the whole depicts moving in the opposite direction.

Open 逆 →

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
行行xíngstreet
止止zhǐfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
𩠐
首shǒu道dào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Early 道 showed a street 行, a foot 止, and a part written 首 or 𩠐; the right part of 行 later disappeared.

Open 道 →

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