一事无成

to have achieved nothing / to be a total failure / to get nowhere

Characters and words in 一事无成

one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

Maud Younger (y) forgot her keys to the space station (Ø1), all she brought outside was her flute (一). She has no choice but to crash the door with the giant flute.
matter / thing / item / work / affair / CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1],回[hui2]

= 𠮛 + + : Mnemonic symbol: The thing.

= 𠮛 + + : Sherlock Holmes read a magic scroll in the bathroom of the space station. The scroll promised eternal love to anyone who reads it and wears a pig's nose while doing so, and Sherlock gave it a try. Now he summoned the thing, and he is scared to death! All he has to defend with is a crowbar. However, he never was in danger: Since he is wearing the pig snout, the thing thinks Sherlock is his mommy, and it just wants to cuddle.
not to have / no / none / not / to lack / un- / -less

= + 𠂇 + : Mnemonic symbol: the philosopher Diogenes, who has nothing and wants nothing.

= + 𠂇 + : Just inside the space station's entrance, Diogenes is annoyed by Willy Walrus, who's playing his flute. Diogenes just wants a peaceful time without being disturbed, so he cuts the flute into pieces with a pair of scissors, and threatens to beat Willy Walrus with a shovel should he annoy Diogenes again.

Mnemonic symbol: 無爲, wu2 wei2, the state of non-doing after having attained complete harmony with the Tao.

Willy Walrus (w) has attained Wu Wei (無) just inside the space station's entrance (Ø2), while from the outside it may seem like he is napping.
achieving nothing
surname Cheng

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a progress bar stuck at 99%.

= + : Charlie Chaplin is queuing at the engine's kitchen, which is blocked by a neuron until the progress bar above shows 100%. Unfortunately it has been stuck at 99% for two hours now. If it doesn't finish soon, Charlie will get completely mad and destroy the neuron himself with his spear.
to succeed / to finish / to complete / to accomplish / to become / to turn into / to be all right / OK! / one tenth

= + : Mnemonic symbol: a progress bar stuck at 99%.

= + : Charlie Chaplin is queuing at the engine's kitchen, which is blocked by a neuron until the progress bar above shows 100%. Unfortunately it has been stuck at 99% for two hours now. If it doesn't finish soon, Charlie will get completely mad and destroy the neuron himself with his spear.

Words with 一事无成

一事无成 is not used as a component in another word.

Sentences with 一事无成

一事无成 currently does not appear in any sentence.