有意无意 (yǒu yì wú yì) — intentionally or unintentionally; wittingly or unwittingly; (adverbial) in a way that may or may not be deliberate

Definition

Idiom meaning 'intentionally or unintentionally' — something the speaker did without clear purpose, or done half-consciously. Often used with 地 to modify a verb, leaving the real intent ambiguous.

idiom
intentionally or unintentionallywittingly or unwittingly(adverbial) in a way that may or may not be deliberate

Examples

  • 有意无意，。
    Tā yǒu yì wú yì dì tí qǐ le nà jiàn shì, ràng wǒ hěn gān gà.
    He brought up that matter, intentionally or not, and made me very embarrassed.
  • 有意无意，。
    Tā yǒu yì wú yì dì kàn le wǒ yì yǎn, rán hòu jì xù gōng zuò.
    She glanced at me, whether on purpose or not, and then continued working.
  • 有意无意。
    Zuò zhě zài wén zhōng yǒu yì wú yì dì pī píng le zhè zhǒng shè huì xiàn xiàng.
    The author criticized this social phenomenon in the text, perhaps deliberately or perhaps not.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

有意have intention
有yǒuhave意yìintention
动宾Verb + object
无意no intention
无wúno意yìintention
动宾Verb + object

Having 有 intention 意 and lacking 无 intention 意 are joined as alternatives.

Characters in this word

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
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →

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 →

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