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无影无踪 (wú yǐng wú zōng) — to vanish without a trace; no sign of anything left

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'vanished without a trace' — both shadow and footprints are gone. Pairs with 得 to describe a complete disappearance.

idiom
to vanish without a traceno sign of anything left

Examples

  • ，无影无踪。
    Jǐng chá gǎn dào de shí hou, xiǎo tōu yǐ jīng pǎo dé wú yǐng wú zōng le.
    By the time the police arrived, the thief had already run off without a trace.
  • 无影无踪。
    Nà ge lǎo jiàn zhù zài chāi diào zhī hòu biàn xiāo shī dé wú yǐng wú zōng.
    After being demolished, that old building disappeared without a trace.
  • 无影无踪。
    Tā liú xià de nà diǎn xī wàng hěn kuài jiù huà dé wú yǐng wú zōng le.
    The small hope he left behind soon melted away into nothing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

无影no shadow
无wúwithout影yǐngshadow
动宾Verb + object
无踪no trace
无wúwithout踪zōngtrace
动宾Verb + object

“无影” and “无踪” mean no shadow and no trace, together emphasizing complete disappearance.

Characters in this word

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
彡彡shān
Sound part声符shēngfú
景
景jǐng影yǐng
Same sound today

影 pairs 景, which gives the sound and also carries the idea of image, with 彡, the part that points to shadow.

Open 影 →

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
足足zúfoot
Sound part声符shēngfú
宗
宗zōng踪zōng
Same sound today

踪 pairs 足, a foot, with 宗, which gives the sound zōng.

Open 踪 →
Appears in
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