一事无成
- Literal
- not a single thing achieved
- Figurative
- To have achieved nothing at all, in life or in an undertaking; often said ruefully of oneself or critically of others.
Where does 一事无成 come from?
The phrase is on record in a poem by Bai Juyi, of the Tang dynasty, written on New Year's Eve to his friend the poet Yuan Zhen, whose courtesy name was Weizhi (《除夜寄微之》). Spending the last night of the year far from the court, the poet laments that his hair has turned white without his noticing and that he has not brought a single thing to completion. The line fixed the phrase, which today serves for any bitter reckoning: someone watching the years go by with nothing to show, or a plan that comes to nothing.
Source (出处): 白居易《除夜寄微之》
How is 一事无成 used? Two examples
- 毕业这么多年，老同学都混得不错，就我还一事无成。
All these years after graduating, my old classmates are all doing well, and I'm the only one with nothing to show for it.
- 他做事总是三天打鱼两天晒网，到头来一事无成。
He never sticks with anything he starts, and in the end he has accomplished nothing.
In Wanyu, all 400 chengyu have audio on every sentence, and you can save them to your decks and review them with spaced repetition. Free.
