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无所不能 (wú suǒ bù néng) — (idiom) all-powerful, omnipotent; (idiom) extremely versatile, capable of anything

Definition

无所不能 is a chengyu meaning 'all-powerful / able to do anything' — describing a person or thing as supremely capable. Use it for high praise or, when negated with 不是, to push back against over-idealization.

idiom
all-powerfulomnipotentextremely versatilecapable of anything

Examples

  • ，无所不能。
    Zài bié rén yǎn lǐ, tā jiǎn zhí wú suǒ bù néng.
    In other people's eyes, he is practically all-powerful.
  • 无所不能，。
    Zhè ge ruǎn jiàn wú suǒ bù néng, shén me dōu néng zuò.
    This software can do anything — it's extremely versatile.
  • 无所不能，。
    Tā bú shì wú suǒ bù néng de, zhǐ shì bǐ bié rén nǔ lì ér yǐ.
    He's not omnipotent — he just works harder than others.

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.

无所nothing
无wúno所suǒthing
偏正Modifier + head
不能cannot
不bùnot能néngable
偏正Modifier + head

无所 means nothing, and 不能 means cannot; together they say nothing cannot.

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
斤斤jīnaxe
Sound part声符shēngfú
戶
戶hù所suǒ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

所 pairs 斤, an axe, with 戶, which gives the sound hù; the old meaning was the sound of logging.

Open 所 →

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 →

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

能 is an old picture of a bear, showing two paws and a face with an open mouth.

Open 能 →
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Idioms & Set Phrases

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