不由自主
bù yóu zì zhǔ
in spite of yourself
Character by character
不bù
not
not
由yóu
from
from
自zì
self
self
主zhǔ
control
control
Example
听到音乐，他不由自主地跳起舞来。
When he heard the music, he started dancing in spite of himself.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
Mostly adverbial with 地, before an action that happens on its own.
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