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Trad. 謎之
- (neologism) (slang) (attributive) mysterious; enigmatic (calque from Japanese 謎の "nazo no")
Trad. 之後
- after; behind
- (at the beginning of a sentence) afterwards; since then
Trad. 之間
- (after a noun) between; among; amid
- (used after certain bisyllabic words to form expressions indicating a short period of time, e.g. 彈指之間|弹指之间[tan2 zhi3 zhi1 jian1])
Trad. 張易之
- Zhang Yizhi (-705), Tang dynasty politician and favorite of Empress Wu Zetian 武則天|武则天[Wu3 Ze2 tian1]
Trad. 祖沖之
- Zu Chongzhi (429-500), astronomer and mathematician
- Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), wide-ranging scholar of the Ming-Qing transition
Trad. 顧愷之
- Gu Kaizhi or Ku K'aichih (346-407), famous painter of Eastern Jin dynasty, one of the Four Great Painters of the Six Dynasties 六朝四大家
- Wang Xizhi (303-361), famous calligrapher of Eastern Jin, known as the sage of calligraphy 書聖|书圣
- Jie Zhitui (7th century BC), legendary selfless subject of Duke Wen of Jin 晉文公|晋文公[Jin4 Wen2 gong1], in whose honor the Qingming festival 清明[Qing1 ming2] (Pure brightness or tomb-sweeping festival) is said to have been initiated
- (after a noun N and before a predicate P) the reason why N P
- Example: 我之所以討厭他|我之所以讨厌他[wo3 zhi1 suo3 yi3 tao3 yan4 ta1] "the reason why I dislike him (is ...)"
Trad. 張之洞
- Zhang Zhidong (1837-1909), prominent politician in late Qing
Trad. 黃巾之亂
- the Yellow Turbans Peasant Uprising at the end of later Han (from 184)
Trad. 祁奚之薦
- Qi Xi's recommendation (idiom); recommending the best person for the job independent of factional loyalty
Trad. 甘之如飴
- lit. as sweet as syrup (idiom, from Book of Songs); to endure hardship gladly
- a glutton for punishment
- most likely
- mostly (in 8 or 9 cases out of 10)
- vast majority
Trad. 略識之無
- semiliterate
- only knows words of one syllable
- lit. to know only 之[zhi1] and 無|无[wu2]
- the final work in the career of a composer, film director or architect etc
- to laugh away (instead of taking seriously)
- the best policy
- the best thing one can do in the circumstances
Trad. 一字之師
- one who can correct a misread or misspelt character and thus be your master
Trad. 衰之以屬
- to treat a debility according to its nature
Trad. 推而廣之
- to apply sth more broadly
- by logical extension
- and, by extension,
- (idiom) contrary to expectation; unexpected
- a wrong suffered (idiom)
- old grievance
- previous defeat
Trad. 誅心之論
- a devastating criticism
- to expose hidden motives
Trad. 付之一嘆
- to dismiss with a sigh (idiom); a hopeless case
Trad. 付之一歎
- to dismiss with a sigh (idiom); a hopeless case
Trad. 言之無物
- (of a writing etc) to have no substance (idiom)
- to carry no weight
- to put to the torch (idiom)
- to commit to the flames
- to burn sth down deliberately
Trad. 言之鑿鑿
- (idiom) to speak with conviction
- (idiom) to dismiss sth with a laugh; to laugh it off
Trad. 義之所在
- justice is to be found everywhere (idiom)
- to think nothing of doing sth (idiom)
- to do sth without considering the risks
- to leave out of consideration
Trad. 天倫之樂
- family love and joy
- domestic bliss
Trad. 斧鉞之誅
- to die by battle-ax (idiom); to be executed
Trad. 付之東流
- to commit to the waters (idiom); to lose sth irrevocably
- (idiom) unspoken implication; the actual meaning of what was said
Trad. 拒之門外
- to lock one's door and refuse to see sb
Trad. 付之行動
- to put into action
- to transform into acts
Trad. 可乘之機
- (idiom) an opportunity that someone (usually a villain or adversary) can exploit
Trad. 芝蘭之室
- lit. a room with irises and orchids (idiom); fig. in wealthy and pleasant company
Trad. 彌留之際
- on one's deathbed
- at the point of death
- to take advantage of sb's precarious position
Trad. 違心之言
- false assertion
- speech against one's own convictions
- lit. a tongue like a reed (idiom)
- fig. a glib tongue
Trad. 喬遷之喜
- congratulations on house-moving or promotion (idiom); Best wishes for your new home!
Trad. 眾矢之的
- lit. target of a multitude of arrows (idiom); the butt of public criticism
- attacked on all sides
- friendship between gentlemen, insipid as water (idiom, from Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3])
Trad. 一線之間
- a hair's breadth apart
- a fine line
- a fine distinction
- to miss sb by a narrow chance
- to miss an opportunity
- to miss narrowly
- to let a great opportunity slip
- Light in August (novel by William Faulkner 威廉·福克納|威廉·福克纳[Wei1 lian2 · Fu2 ke4 na4])
- (idiom) during one's lifetime; while one is on this earth; in one's remaining years
Trad. 持之以恆
- to pursue unremittingly (idiom); to persevere
Trad. 漁人之利
- (idiom) the benefit reaped by a third party when two sides are locked in a dispute
Trad. 可取之處
- positive point
- merit
- redeeming quality
Trad. 驚人之舉
- to astonish people (with a miraculous feat)
Trad. 後起之秀
- (idiom) an up-and-coming youngster; new talent; a brilliant younger generation
Trad. 變徵之聲
- modified fifth note of the pentatonic scale
- to settle a matter by leaving it unsettled
- to end up with nothing definite
Trad. 後車之鑒
- lit. warning to the following cart (idiom); don't follow the track of an overturned cart
- fig. draw lesson from the failure of one's predecessor
- learn from past mistake
- once bitten twice shy
Trad. 轉眼之間
- (idiom) in the wink of an eye; in a flash
Trad. 禮儀之邦
- a land of ceremony and propriety
Trad. 官渡之戰
- Battle of Guandu of 199 that established Cao Cao's 曹操[Cao2 Cao1] domination over north China, at Guandu (near modern 許昌|许昌[Xu3 chang1] in north Henan)
Trad. 驚弓之鳥
- lit. a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow (idiom)
- fig. sb who frightens easily, due to past experiences
- in the Name of the Father (in Christian worship)
- momentary slip
- false step
- ill-considered action
Trad. 傷弓之鳥
- see 驚弓之鳥|惊弓之鸟[jing1 gong1 zhi1 niao3]
- glutton
- gourmand
- by extension, person who is greedy for power, money, sex etc
Trad. 前車之鑑
- lit. a warning taken from the overturned cart ahead (idiom)
- fig. lesson learned by observing others' failures
Trad. 天壤之別
- lit. the difference between heaven and earth (idiom)
- fig. night and day difference; a world of difference; a far cry (from)
Trad. 前車之鑒
- variant of 前車之鑑|前车之鉴[qian2 che1 zhi1 jian4]
Trad. 養生之道
- the way of maintaining good health
Trad. 鼎足之勢
- competition between three rivals
- tripartite confrontation
Trad. 將伯之助
- assistance that one gets from another
- lit. the fire burns one's eyebrows (idiom); fig. desperate situation
- extreme emergency
Trad. 竹馬之友
- see 竹馬之交|竹马之交[zhu2 ma3 zhi1 jiao1]
Trad. 後顧之憂
- fears of trouble in the rear (idiom); family worries (obstructing freedom of action)
- worries about the future consequences
- often in negative expressions, meaning "no worries about anything"
Trad. 一技之長
- proficiency in a particular field (idiom)
- skill in a specialized area (idiom)
Trad. 問罪之師
- punitive force
- a person setting out to deliver severe reproach
- to snort disdainfully
- to scoff at
- to turn up one's nose
Trad. 引玉之磚
- lit. a brick thrown to prompt others to produce a jade (idiom)
- fig. a modest suggestion intended to prompt others to come forward with better ideas
- of the utmost importance
- of highest priority
Trad. 德國之聲
- Deutsche Welle, German publicly-operated international broadcaster
Trad. 長平之戰
- Battle of Changping of 260 BC, at which the Qin army 秦軍|秦军[Qin2 jun1] encircled and annihilated a Zhao army of 400,000
Trad. 處世之道
- way of life
- attitude
- modus operandi
Trad. 愛之如命
- to love sb (or sth) as one loves life itself
- Friends of Nature (Chinese environmental NGO)
Trad. 處之泰然
- see 泰然處之|泰然处之[tai4 ran2 chu3 zhi1]
- to take advantage of sb's difficulties (idiom)
Trad. 繩之以法
- to punish according to the law
- to bring to justice
Trad. 刑名之學
- xing-ming, a school of thought of the Warring States period associated with Shen Buhai 申不害[Shen1 Bu4 hai4]
Trad. 舉手之勞
- lit. the exertion of lifting one's hand (idiom)
- fig. a very slight effort
Trad. 杞人之憂
- lit. the fear held by a man of 杞[Qi3] that the sky would fall (idiom)
- fig. groundless fears
Trad. 擬古之作
- a work in a classic style
- a pastiche
Trad. 杞國之憂
- see 杞人之憂|杞人之忧[Qi3 ren2 zhi1 you1]
Trad. 杞天之慮
- see 杞人之憂|杞人之忧[Qi3 ren2 zhi1 you1]
Trad. 刻意為之
- to make a conscious effort
- to do something deliberately
Trad. 柏舉之戰
- Battle of Baiju (506 BC), in which Wu 吳|吴[Wu2] scored a crushing victory over Chu 楚[Chu3]
- drumming on a bowl in grief (idiom, refers to Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3] grieving for his lost wife)
- fig. grief for a lost wife
Trad. 千乘之國
- (archaic) a state with a thousand chariots (to fight a war) – a powerful state