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无意 (wú yì) — (adverb) unintentionally, accidentally; (verb) to have no intention of (doing something)

Definition

无意 means 'unintentionally' (adverb) or 'to have no intention of' (verb). 比 偶然 更有'并非有意为之'的意味，指行为者根本没想过要做此事。

adverb
unintentionallyaccidentally
verb
to have no intention of (doing something)

Examples

  • 无意。
    Wǒ wú yì zhōng fā xiàn le zhè ge mì mì.
    I accidentally discovered this secret.
  • 无意。
    Tā wú yì zhōng tí dào le nà jiàn shì.
    She unintentionally mentioned that matter.
  • 无意。
    Wǒ wú yì cān jiā zhè ge pài duì.
    I have no intention of attending this party.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

无wúhave no
意yìintention

无 means have no and 意 means intention, so it says no intention.

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 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Will & Intention5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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