座无虚席 (zuò wú xū xí) — full house, packed audience, standing room only

Definition

A chengyu meaning a venue is completely full — every seat taken. Used to describe a packed concert, theater, or event, not usually a bus or train.

verb
full housepacked audiencestanding room only

Examples

  • 座无虚席，。
    Zuó wǎn de yǎn chàng huì zuò wú xū xí, guān zhòng rè qíng gāo zhǎng.
    Last night's concert was a full house, and the audience was extremely enthusiastic.
  • 座无虚席，。
    Zhè jiā xīn kāi de cān tīng měi tiān dōu zuò wú xū xí, xū yào tí qián yù yuē.
    This newly opened restaurant is packed every day; you need to reserve in advance.
  • 座无虚席，。
    Bǐ sài xiàn chǎng zuò wú xū xí, qiú mí men huān hū shēng zhèn ěr yù lóng.
    The match venue was standing room only, and the fans' cheers were deafening.

Origin

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
广广guǎnghouse on cliff
Sound part声符shēngfú
坐
坐zuò座zuò
Same sound today

座 pairs 广, a house on a cliff, with 坐 to give the sound.

Open 座 →

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 →

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 虛; 虚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
丘丘qiūhill
Sound part声符shēngfú
虍
虍hū虛xū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 虛 pairs the upper 虍, which gives the sound, with a lower part shaped like 丘, 'hill'; the simplified 虚 is a later shorthand.

Open 虚 →

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

席 originally showed a woven mat with an ornament. In 席, the mat became 巾, and a later sound part was written as 庶.

Open 席 →

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