"Never" • Chinese-English Dictionary

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从来 cóng lái always / at all times / never (if used in negative sentence)
从 cóng from / through / via / to follow / to obey / to engage in (an activity) / never (in negative sentence) / (Taiwan pr. [zong4]) retainer / assistant / auxiliary / subordinate / related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor
从未 cóng wèi never
永不 yǒng bù never / will never
从来不 cóng lái bù never
从不 cóng bù never
从没 cóng méi never (in the past) / never did
别让我走 bié ràng wǒ zǒu never
没什么 méi shén me nothing / it doesn't matter / it's nothing / never mind
没事 méi shì it's not important / it's nothing / never mind / to have nothing to do / to be free / to be all right (out of danger or trouble)
从来没 cóng lái méi have never / has never
从来没有 cóng lái méi yǒu have never / never before
未有 wèi yǒu is not / has never been / never occurring / unprecedented
不要紧 bù yào jǐn unimportant / not serious / it doesn't matter / never mind / it looks all right, but
也罢 yě bà (reduplicated) whether... or... / never mind / fine (indicating acceptance or resignation)
不衰 bù shuāi unfailing / never weakening / enduring / unstoppable
破天荒 pò tiān huāng unprecedented / for the first time / never before / first ever
乐此不疲 lè cǐ bù pí to enjoy sth and never tire of it (idiom)
不绝于耳 bù jué yú ěr (of sound) to never stop / to fall incessantly on the ear / to linger on
耍赖 shuǎ lài to act shamelessly / to refuse to acknowledge that one has lost the game, or made a promise etc / to act dumb / to act as if sth never happened
没事儿 méi shì r to have spare time / free from work / it's not important / it's nothing / never mind
孜孜不倦 zī zī bù juàn lit. diligent and never slacking (idiom) / continuous concentrated effort / assiduous (in study) / to concentrate
空前绝后 kōng qián jué hòu unprecedented and never to be duplicated / the first and the last / unmatched / unique
不打紧 bù dǎ jǐn unimportant / not serious / it doesn't matter / never mind
亡羊补牢 wáng yáng bǔ láo lit. to mend the pen after sheep are lost (idiom) / fig. to act belatedly / better late than never / to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted
祸不单行 huò bù dān xíng misfortune does not come singly (idiom) / it never rains but it pours
永垂不朽 yǒng chuí bù xiǔ eternal glory / will never be forgotten
老好人 lǎo hǎo rén one who tries never to offend anybody
见异思迁 jiàn yì sī qiān to change at once on seeing sth different (idiom) / loving fads and novelty / never satisfied with what one has
素昧平生 sù mèi píng shēng to have never met sb before (idiom) / entirely unacquainted / a complete stranger / not to know sb from Adam
勿忘国耻 wù wàng guó chǐ Never forget national humiliation, refers to Mukden railway incident of 18th September 1931 九一八事變|九一八事变 / and subsequent Japanese annexation of Manchuria
一病不起 yī bìng bù qǐ to fall gravely ill, never to recover (idiom)
神交 shén jiāo soul brothers / friends in spirit who have never met / to commune with
土鳖 tǔ biē ground beetle / (coll.) professional or entrepreneur who, unlike a 海歸|海归[hai3 gui1], has never studied overseas / (dialect) country bumpkin
欲壑难填 yù hè nán tián bottomless pit of desire (idiom) / insatiable greed / carnal cravings are never satisfied and are a main obstruction on the path to enlightenment
强中自有强中手 qiáng zhōng zì yǒu qiáng zhōng shǒu however strong you are, there is always someone stronger (idiom) / there is always sth more to learn / never be satisfied to rest on your laurels / there is no room for complacency
贪得无厌 tān dé wú yàn avaricious and insatiable (idiom) / greedy and never satisfied
时不再来 shí bù zài lái Time that has passed will never come back. (idiom)
贪婪无厌 tān lán wú yàn avaricious and insatiable (idiom) / greedy and never satisfied
百足之虫死而不僵 bǎi zú zhī chóng sǐ ér bù jiāng a centipede dies but never falls down / old institutions die hard
兵不厌诈 bīng bù yàn zhà there can never be too much deception in war / in war nothing is too deceitful / all's fair in war
功高不赏 gōng gāo bù shǎng high merit that one can never repay (idiom) / invaluable achievements
博士买驴 bó shì mǎi lu:2 lit. the scholar buys a donkey (idiom) / fig. long-winded verbiage that never gets to the point / idiom mocking scholastic pomposity
哀莫大于心死 āi mò dà yú xīn sǐ nothing sadder than a withered heart (idiom attributed to Confucius by Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3]) / no greater sorrow than a heart that never rejoices / the worst sorrow is not as bad as an uncaring heart / nothing is more wretched than apathy
户枢不蠹 hù shū bù dù lit. a door hinge never becomes worm-eaten / constant activity prevents decay (idiom)
旷古未有 kuàng gǔ wèi yǒu never before in the whole of history (idiom) / unprecedented
旷古未闻 kuàng gǔ wèi wén never before in the whole of history (idiom) / unprecedented / also written 曠古未有|旷古未有
祸不旋踵 huò bù xuán zhǒng trouble is never far away (idiom)
积不相能 jī bù xiāng néng always at loggerheads (idiom) / never able to agree with sb / unable to get on with sb
虱多不痒 shī duō bù yǎng many fleas, but unconcerned (idiom) / no point in worrying about one debt when one has so many others / Troubles never come singly. / It never rains but it pours.
行不由径 xíng bù yóu jìng lit. never taking a short-cut (idiom) / fig. upright and honest
贪心不足 tān xīn bù zú avaricious and insatiable (idiom) / greedy and never satisfied
贪猥无厌 tān wěi wú yàn avaricious and insatiable (idiom) / greedy and never satisfied
迂回曲折 yū huí qū zhé meandering and circuitous (idiom) / complicated developments that never get anywhere / going around in circles
亘古未有 gèn gǔ wèi yǒu unprecedented / never seen since ancient times
人心不足蛇吞象 rén xīn bù zú shé tūn xiàng a man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant (idiom)
树欲静而风不止 shù yù jìng ér fēng bù zhǐ lit. the trees long for peace but the wind will never cease (idiom) / fig. the world changes, whether you want it or not
猴年马月 hóu nián mǎ yuè long time off / time that will never come
福无双至 fú wú shuāng zhì blessings never come in pairs (idiom)
永无宁日 yǒng wú níng rì (in such circumstances) there will be no peace / one can never breathe easy
前所未见 qián suǒ wèi jiàn unprecedented / never seen before
没甚么 méi shén me nothing / it doesn't matter / it's nothing / never mind
黄鹤楼 Huáng hè Lóu Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan City, built in 223, burnt down in 1884, rebuilt in 1985 / favored place of poet sages, who in legend arrived riding golden cranes / Tang poem by Cui Hao 崔顥|崔颢[Cui1 Hao4], with theme 'the past will never return' / one of three famous pagodas in China along with Yueyang Tower 岳陽樓|岳阳楼[Yue4 yang2 Lou2] in Yueyang, north Hunan, and Tengwang Tower 滕王閣|滕王阁[Teng2 wang2 Ge2] in Nanchang, Jiangxi
肉包子打狗 ròu bāo zǐ dǎ gǒu what's gone can never come back
不做亏心事，不怕鬼敲门 bù zuò kuī xīn shì , bù pà guǐ qiāo mén He who never wrongs others does not fear the knock in the night. / Rest with a clear conscience.
不提也罢 bù tí yě bà best not to mention it / drop it / never mind / let's not talk about it
今日事今日毕 jīn rì shì jīn rì bì never put off until tomorrow what you can do today (idiom)
冻容 dòng róng "youth freezing", Chinese girls beginning anti-ageing treatments as young as two years old in the hope they will never look old
四体不勤，五谷不分 sì tǐ bù qín , wǔ gǔ bù fēn never move your four limbs, can't distinguish the five crops (idiom) / living as a parasite
压而不服 yā ér bù fú coercion will never convince (idiom)
天无绝人之路 tiān wú jué rén zhī lù Heaven never bars one's way (idiom) / don't despair and you will find a way through. / Never give up hope. / Never say die.
太阳永不落 tài yáng yǒng bù luò (on which) the sun never sets
好故事百听不厌 hǎo gù shi bǎi tīng bù yàn The story is so good it's worth hearing a hundred times. / One never tires of hearing good new.
平生不做亏心事，半夜敲门心不惊 píng shēng bù zuò kuī xīn shì , bàn yè qiāo mén xīn bù jīng He who never wrongs others does not fear the knock in the night. / Rest with a clear conscience.
爱莫大于心死 ài mò dà yú xīn sǐ nothing more sad than a withered heart / no greater sorrow than a heart that never rejoices / (popular culture misquotation of 哀莫大於心死|哀莫大于心死, saying attributed to Confuciu
承望 chéng wàng to expect (often in negative combination, I never expected...) / to look forward to
株守 zhū shǒu to stick to sth stubbornly / never let go
永志不忘 yǒng zhì bù wàng never to be forgotten
求学无坦途 qiú xué wú tǎn tú The path of learning can never be smooth. / There is no royal road to learning. (idiom)
沒什麼 méi shén me variant of 沒甚麼|没什么, nothing / it doesn't matter / it's nothing / never mind
沾唇 zhān chún to moisten one's lips / to sip (wine, tea etc) / esp. used with negatives: never touch a drop of the stuff
活到老学到老 huó dào lǎo xué dào lǎo (proverb) never too old to learn
活到老，学到老 huó dào lǎo , xué dào lǎo One is never too old to learn. (idiom)
滴酒不沾 dī jiǔ bù zhān never to touch a drop of alcohol
当天事当天毕 dàng tiān shì dàng tiān bì never put off until tomorrow what you can do today (idiom)
知己知彼，百战不殆 zhī jǐ zhī bǐ , bǎi zhàn bù dài know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated (idiom, from Sunzi's "The Art of War" 孫子兵法|孙子兵法[Sun1 zi3 Bing1 fa3])
绕来绕去 rào lái rào qù meandering and circuitous (idiom) / to go around in circles and never get anywhere
青春不再 qīng chūn bù zài lit. one's youth will never return / to make the most of one's opportunities (idiom)
富不过三代 fù bù guò sān dài wealth never survives three generations (idiom)
成事不足，败事有余 chéng shì bù zú , bài shì yǒu yú unable to accomplish anything but liable to spoil everything (idiom) / unable to do anything right / never make, but always mar
累觉不爱 lèi jué bù ài (lit.) so exhausted (by difficulties in a relationship) that one feels one could never fall in love again (Internet slang) / disenchanted with sth
吃水不忘掘井人 chī shuǐ bù wàng jué jǐng rén Drinking the water of a well, one should never forget who dug it. (idiom)
山不转水转 shān bù zhuàn shuǐ zhuàn it's a small world / only mountains never meet
照作不误 zhào zuò bù wù to do something, never mind the circumstances
不干不净，吃了没病 bù gān bù jìng , chī le méi bìng a little dirt never killed anybody (proverb) / a couple of germs won't do you any harm
永不生锈的螺丝钉 yǒng bù shēng xiù de luó sī dīng a "screw that never rusts" &mdash / sb who selflessly and wholeheartedly serves the Communist Party, like Lei Feng 雷鋒|雷锋[Lei2 Feng1], to whom the metaphor is attributed
舍不得孩子套不住狼 shě bù de hái zi tào bù zhù láng one who is not prepared to risk his child will never catch the wolf (proverb) / (fig.) one who is unwilling to take risks will not achieve great things
母胎solo mǔ tāi s o l o (slang) never been in a romantic relationship
母胎单身 mǔ tāi dān shēn never been in a romantic relationship
前无古人，后无来者 qián wú gǔ rén , hòu wú lái zhě there has never been and never will be another person like this (idiom) / never done before and unlikely to be matched in the future / peerless
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