无中生有 — “To fabricate something out of thin air”
无中生有 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to fabricate something out of thin air”. To invent something groundless; to make something up from nothing. Literally, “from nothing, something is produced”.
Frequency
无中生有 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 无wú
- 中zhōng
- 生shēng
- 有yǒu
无中生有 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 无中生有
他总是喜欢无中生有，编造一些不真实的故事来吸引别人的注意。
He always likes to fabricate things out of thin air, making up untrue stories to attract others' attention.
Origin and Story of 无中生有
During the Spring and Autumn period, the great philosopher Laozi proposed his cosmology. He believed that the formation of the universe was a process where Dao gives birth to Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth give birth to all things. The cyclical movement is the motion of Dao, and softness or weakness is the application of Dao.
All things in the world are born from the tangible Heaven and Earth, and the tangible Heaven and Earth are born from the intangible Dao. This concept illustrates the idea of 'something arising from nothing'.
Idioms Related to 无中生有
Synonyms of 无中生有
Antonyms of 无中生有
More idioms starting with 无
- wú无yī一bù不bèi备everything is provided
- wú无yī一bù不zhī知know everything
- wú无yī一kě可not a single redeeming quality
- wú无wàn万dà大qiān千innumerable, countless
- wú无xià下zhù箸chǔ处overwhelmed by an abundance of food
- wú无yǔ与wéi为bǐ比unparalleled, without equal
- wú无yǔ与lún伦bǐ比incomparable and matchless
- wú无yǔ与bǐ比lún伦Unrivaled; beyond compare
- wú无yè业yóu游mín民unemployed wandering vagrant
- wú无sī丝yǒu有xiàn线under a cloud of suspicion
- wú无wéi为zhī之zhì治governance by non-interference
- wú无wéi为ér而chéng成achieve effortlessly
Questions about 无中生有
- What does 无中生有 mean?
- 无中生有 (wú zhōng shēng yǒu) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to fabricate something out of thin air”.
- How do you pronounce 无中生有?
- 无中生有 is pronounced wú zhōng shēng yǒu in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 无中生有 literally mean?
- Literally, 无中生有 means “from nothing, something is produced”. It is used to mean “to fabricate something out of thin air”.
- Where does 无中生有 come from?
- 无中生有 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 无中生有?
- 道家认为，天下万物生于有，有生于无。把没有的说成有。比喻毫无事实，凭空捏造。