Chinese word dictionary

身不由己

shēnbùyóujǐ · (idiom) (of one's circumstances) beyond one's control; unable to do anything about it; (of one's actions) not subject to conscious control (i.e. done in spite of oneself)

Word information

Simplified身不由己
Traditional身不由己
Pinyinshēnbùyóujǐ
Part of speechGeneral
HSK 3.07-9
HSK 2.0Not listed

How to learn 身不由己

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.