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无所畏惧 (wú suǒ wèi jù) — fearless, dauntless, undaunted

Definition

Literally 'without anything to fear' — a literary idiom for complete fearlessness in the face of danger or difficulty. Stronger and more formal than everyday words like 不怕.

idiom
fearlessdauntlessundaunted

Examples

  • ，无所畏惧，。
    Miàn duì kùn nan, tā wú suǒ wèi jù, cóng bù hòu tuì.
    Facing difficulties, he is fearless and never retreats.
  • 无所畏惧。
    Tā wú suǒ wèi jù de jīng shén yíng dé le dà jiā de zūn jìng.
    Her dauntless spirit earned everyone's respect.
  • 无所畏惧，。
    Zhàn shì men wú suǒ wèi jù, zhōng yú yíng dé le shèng lì.
    The soldiers were undaunted and finally won victory.

Origin

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 →

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
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
鬼
鬼guǐ畏wèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early form of 畏 drew a ghost 鬼 holding a stick. Later, 卜 was used as the meaning part and 鬼 as the sound part.

Open 畏 →

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
具
具jù惧jù
Same sound today

In 惧, the left part is 忄, the heart, and the right part 具 gives the sound.

Open 惧 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesPersonality & Traits

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