📖 Meaning
To not hesitate at all; to be willing to do something regardless of the cost or sacrifice. It conveys a resolute attitude of not grudging any effort, money, or even one's life to achieve a goal.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase has deep classical Chinese roots, combining the grammatical structure found in earlier texts. The components appear in contexts where scholars and officials declared their willingness to sacrifice everything for loyalty or a righteous cause. It crystallized as a fixed expression in Ming and Qing dynasty literature, frequently used in historical novels and essays to describe figures who accepted any cost for duty or principle.
💡 Example Usage
为了国家的安全，即使牺牲个人生命，也在所不惜。
For the sake of national security, they would not hesitate even if it meant sacrificing their own lives.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 在所不惜
- Pinyin: zài suǒ bù xī
- Literal Translation: at, place, not, begrudge
- Category: Determination
- Characters: 4