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无望 (wú wàng) — hopeless; (literary) unexpected, unforeseen

Definition

Literary adjective with two senses: 'hopeless' (no chance of success) and 'unexpected, unforeseen' (as in 无望之灾 'an unforeseen disaster'). Mainly found in written/formal Chinese.

adjective
hopeless(literary) unexpectedunforeseen

Examples

  • 无望。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù de chéng gōng kàn lái yǐ jīng wú wàng le.
    The success of this project seems hopeless already.
  • ，无望。
    Tā nǔ lì le hěn jiǔ, dàn zuì zhōng hái shì wú wàng.
    He tried for a long time, but in the end it was hopeless.
  • 无望。
    Nà cì wú wàng zhī zāi chè dǐ gǎi biàn le tā men de mìng yùn.
    That unforeseen disaster completely changed their fate.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
前缀qiánzhuìPrefix

A fixed syllable in front that adds a shade of meaning but carries none of its own.

无wúnot
望wànghope

无 gives 'not' to 望 'hope', yielding hopeless.

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 →

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

  • 臣臣chéneye
  • 𡈼𡈼𡈼person standing on the ground

望 originally showed 臣 (eye) beside 𡈼 (person standing on the ground): a person standing up and looking off into the distance. Later 月 was added, and the 臣 part became 亡.

Open 望 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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