What does 目不识丁 mean?

目不识丁 (mù bù shí dīng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Illiterate”.

How do you pronounce 目不识丁?

目不识丁 is pronounced mù bù shí dīng in Mandarin Chinese.

What does 目不识丁 literally mean?

Literally, 目不识丁 means “Eyes don't recognize the character 'ding'”. It is used to mean “Illiterate”.

Where does 目不识丁 come from?

目不识丁 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.

What is the Chinese definition of 目不识丁?

连最普通的“丁”字也不认识。形容一个字也不认得。

目不识丁 — “Illiterate”

目不识丁 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Illiterate”. Unable to read or write a single word; not knowing even the most basic characters. Literally, “Eyes don't recognize the character 'ding'”.

Frequency

目不识丁 Pronunciation and Pinyin

目mù
不bù
识shí
丁dīng

目不识丁 Character Breakdown

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
目	mù	5	eye, item, or goal
不	bù	4	not
识	shí	7	know, recognize, discern
丁	dīng	2	fourth heavenly stem, adult man

Example Sentence with 目不识丁

他虽然在生意上很成功，但在文化方面却目不识丁，连简单的报纸都读不懂。

Although he is very successful in business, he is illiterate culturally, unable to even read a simple newspaper.

Origin and Story of 目不识丁

During the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Hongjing, the military governor of Youzhou, had subordinates named Wei Yong and Zhang Zonghou. They often drank together.

At that time, the world was peaceful, and there were no battles at the border, so these generals had little to do.

They sighed, saying, 'Now that the world is peaceful, practicing martial arts is not as good as practicing literature. Being able to pull a two-stone bow is not as good as knowing a single character.'

The idiom eventually evolved from '个' (ge), which is visually similar to '丁' (ding), into '目不识丁' to describe someone who is illiterate and cannot recognize even the simplest character.

Idioms Related to 目不识丁

Synonyms of 目不识丁

Antonyms of 目不识丁

More idioms starting with 目

Questions about 目不识丁

What does 目不识丁 mean?: 目不识丁 (mù bù shí dīng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Illiterate”.
How do you pronounce 目不识丁?: 目不识丁 is pronounced mù bù shí dīng in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 目不识丁 literally mean?: Literally, 目不识丁 means “Eyes don't recognize the character 'ding'”. It is used to mean “Illiterate”.
Where does 目不识丁 come from?: 目不识丁 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 目不识丁?: 连最普通的“丁”字也不认识。形容一个字也不认得。

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