📖 Meaning
This idiom describes someone who greedily pursues gain or profit with no sense of satisfaction or stopping point. It conveys the idea of boundless, insatiable avarice that can never be appeased. It is equivalent to the more common form 贪求无厌.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom is a variant form of the more widely seen "贪求无厌" (tān qiú wú yàn), both expressing the identical concept of insatiable greed. The character 已 (yǐ) here means "to stop" or "to cease," so 无已 literally reads "without ceasing." The phrase appears scattered throughout classical Chinese literature, where historians and moralists frequently cautioned against the dangers of unchecked avarice. Unlike many chengyu rooted in a single famous anecdote, this expression grew organically from recurring usage in historical commentaries and didactic writings across multiple dynasties. It functions as a timeless warning about how limitless desire ultimately leads to ruin.
💡 Example Usage
他对财富贪求无已，最终走上了犯罪的道路。
His insatiable greed for wealth eventually led him down the path of crime.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 贪求无已
- Pinyin: tān qiú wú yǐ
- Literal Translation: covet, seek, without, end
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4