横行无忌 (héng xíng wú jì) — to run wild; to act without restraint or fear of consequences

Definition

Idiom describing powerful people or groups acting brutally and fearlessly, ignoring all limits — stronger than simply 'run wild'; implies deliberate, rampant lawlessness.

idiom
to run wildto act without restraint or fear of consequences

Examples

  • 横行无忌，。
    Zhè xiē hēi è shì lì zài dāng dì héng xíng wú jì, bǎi xìng gǎn nù bù gǎn yán.
    These criminal forces ran amok locally, and the people dared to be angry but not to speak up.
  • ，横行无忌。
    Fǎ lǜ miàn qián rén rén píng děng, jué bù róng xǔ rèn hé rén héng xíng wú jì.
    All are equal before the law; no one is allowed to act with impunity.
  • 横行无忌，。
    Nà ge fǔ bài de guān yuán cháng qī héng xíng wú jì, zuì zhōng bèi shéng zhī yǐ fǎ.
    That corrupt official had long acted without restraint, and was eventually brought to justice.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

横行act freely
横héngsideways行xíngact
偏正Modifier + head
无忌without taboo
无wúwithout忌jìtaboo
动宾Verb + object

The image of 横行, acting freely, is joined with 无忌, without taboo, to mean running wild without restraint.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 橫; 横 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
木木mùwood
Sound part声符shēngfú
黃
黃huáng橫héng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 橫 has 木, meaning wood, beside 黃, which supplies the sound; the simplified 横 is a later abbreviation.

Open 横 →

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
己
己jǐ忌jì
Same sound today

忌 combines 己, which gives the sound, with 心, the heart, as the part connected to the meaning.

Open 忌 →

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