📖 Meaning
To detest and bitterly reject someone or something to the utmost degree. It conveys an intense, deep-rooted feeling of disgust and abhorrence, far stronger than ordinary dislike.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase traces to the Song dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi's commentary on Mencius (《孟子·尽心下》). Mencius criticizes the 'xiangyuan' (乡愿), the seemingly virtuous but actually hypocritical person who pleases everyone yet lacks true moral principle. In his collected annotations (集注), Zhu Xi explains that such a hypocrite is someone a true gentleman would pass by without regret, considering it fortunate never to have been close to him—and would 'deeply detest and bitterly reject him' (深恶而痛绝之). Over time the phrase was condensed into the four-character idiom used today.
💡 Example Usage
他对这种弄虚作假的行为深恶痛绝。
He detests and bitterly abhors this kind of deceitful behavior.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 深恶痛绝
- Pinyin: shēn wù tòng jué
- Literal Translation: deep, detest, bitterly, extreme
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4