远非 (yuǎn fēi) — far from; definitely not; by no means | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Written adverb meaning 'far from / by no means' — strengthens a negation to say something is well below an expectation. Stronger and more formal than 远没有 or 远远不够.

adverb

far fromdefinitely notby no means

Examples

远非。
Zhè ge wèn tí yuǎn fēi nà me jiǎn dān.
This problem is far from that simple.
远非。
Tā de néng lì yuǎn fēi wǒ men suǒ néng xiǎng xiàng de.
His ability is far beyond what we could imagine.
远非。
Shì qing de jié guǒ yuǎn fēi tā zuì chū yù liào de nà yàng.
The outcome of the matter was far from what he originally expected.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

远 means far and 非 means not, so it says something is far from being true.

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.

辶元远

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

元

元yuán远yuǎn

Same sound today

远 combines 辶, meaning walk, with 元, used for its sound.

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.

Appears in

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