有识之士 (yǒu shí zhī shì) — a person of insight; a visionary; someone with knowledge and foresight

Definition

A formal, written expression meaning 'a person of insight and vision.' It refers collectively to knowledgeable people whose opinions carry weight — typically used in essays or news commentary, not everyday speech.

noun
a person of insighta visionarysomeone with knowledge and foresight
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 有识之士。
    Zhǐ yǒu zhēn zhèng de yǒu shí zhī shì cái néng kàn qīng wèi lái de fāng xiàng.
    Only a true person of insight can see the direction of the future clearly.
  • 有识之士。
    Zhè wèi xué zhě de wén zhāng dé dào le xǔ duō yǒu shí zhī shì de zàn shǎng.
    This scholar's article received praise from many people of vision.
  • ，有识之士。
    Lì shǐ shàng, yǒu shí zhī shì wǎng wǎng zài dòng dàng shí qī tí chū zhòng yào zhǔ zhāng.
    Throughout history, far-sighted people often put forward important ideas during turbulent times.

Origin

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 識; 识 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánsay
Sound part声符shēngfú
戠
戠zhí識zhì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 識 pairs 言 (say) with 戠 as a sound part; the simplified 识 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 识 →

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

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

Open 之 →

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

The shape 士 comes from a simple drawing of a war axe. The character later came to mean a soldier, officer, or intellectual.

Open 士 →

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