无非 (wú fēi) — nothing but, only, merely

Definition

无非 means 'nothing but / only' and is stronger and more emphatic than 只是. It frames what follows as the whole picture, not a soft qualifier — often used in written or evaluative statements.

adverb

nothing butonlymerely

Examples

无非。
Tā shuō de wú fēi shì xiē jiè kǒu.
What he said was nothing but excuses.
无非。
Zhè chǎng kǎo shì wú fēi shì jiǎn yàn xué xí chéng guǒ.
This exam is merely a test of learning results.
无非。
Tā měi tiān de shēng huó wú fēi shàng bān hé huí jiā.
Her daily life is nothing but going to work and coming home.

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wúno

非fēinot

无 and 非 both say not; together they mean nothing but, only.

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 →

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

The shape of 非 is drawn from two wings facing opposite directions. It later came to be used for going against or not being.

Open 非 →