一事无成
yī shì wú chéng
to have achieved nothing
Character by character
一yī
one
one
事shì
thing
thing
无wú
not
not
成chéng
achieved
achieved
Example
他三十岁了还一事无成。
He's thirty and still hasn't achieved anything.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
Blunt or self-critical; often 至今 or 到现在还一事无成.
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