不由自主 — “Involuntarily”
不由自主 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “involuntarily”. Beyond one's control; to be unable to restrain oneself. Literally, “not by oneself; beyond one's own control”.
Frequency
不由自主 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 不bù
- 由yóu
- 自zì
- 主zhǔ
不由自主 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 不由自主
听到那美妙的音乐，她不由自主地跟着哼唱起来
Hearing the beautiful music, she couldn't help but hum along.
Origin and Story of 不由自主
Jia Baoyu put down his book and ran to his grandmother, Jia Mu.
Coincidentally, Jia Mu, Wang Xifeng, and others were discussing evil spirits and dark arts.
Jia Baoyu immediately interjected, mentioning the incident years ago when Aunt Zhao had hired someone to perform rituals, causing him and Wang Xifeng to fall ill from an evil spell.
Wang Xifeng said, "I don't remember it very clearly. But I just felt my body was beyond my control, as if someone was pulling and dragging me, urging me to kill someone."
Idioms Related to 不由自主
More idioms starting with 不
- bù不yī一ér而zú足numerous and varied, impossible to list all
- bù不sān三bù不sì四improper or disreputable
- bù不shàng上bù不xià下stuck in an awkward position
- bù不shàng上bù不luò落in an awkward or embarrassing situation
- bù不shì世zhī之yè业unparalleled achievements
- bù不shì世zhī之chóu仇unrivaled enmity
- bù不shì世zhī之gōng功unparalleled achievement
- bù不shì世zhī之lüè略unparalleled strategy
- bù不sàng丧bǐ匕chàng鬯peace and order, rituals undisturbed
- bù不fēng丰bù不jiǎn俭neither extravagant nor frugal
- bù不fēng丰bù不shā杀neither extravagant nor frugal
- bù不wèi为wǔ五dǒu斗mǐ米zhé折yāo腰Refuse to compromise integrity for meager gain
Questions about 不由自主
- What does 不由自主 mean?
- 不由自主 (bù yóu zì zhǔ) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “involuntarily”.
- How do you pronounce 不由自主?
- 不由自主 is pronounced bù yóu zì zhǔ in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 不由自主 literally mean?
- Literally, 不由自主 means “not by oneself; beyond one's own control”. It is used to mean “involuntarily”.
- Where does 不由自主 come from?
- 不由自主 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to the modern era. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 不由自主?
- 由不得自己，控制不住自己。