📖 Meaning
An event or situation that has never occurred in recorded history; completely unprecedented. It describes something so extraordinary or unique that no prior comparable example exists.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom emerged from modern Chinese usage, gaining widespread prominence after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. It was frequently used in official discourse to describe the unprecedented scale of socialist construction. Unlike many four-character idioms rooted in classical texts, this phrase was assembled from common characters and popularized through 20th-century political and media language rather than any single classical literary source.
💡 Example Usage
这次疫情的全球蔓延是史无前例的，各国政府不得不采取紧急措施。
The global spread of this pandemic was unprecedented, and governments around the world had to take emergency measures.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 史无前例
- Pinyin: shǐ wú qián lì
- Literal Translation: history, no, before, example
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4