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杞人之忧

Qǐ rén zhī yōudictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(lit.) the fear held by a man of 杞[Qǐ] that the sky would fall (idiom) / (fig.) groundless fears
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-1d344551888a3788. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

杞人之憂 杞人之忧 [Qi3 ren2 zhi1 you1] /(lit.) the fear held by a man of 杞[Qi3] that the sky would fall (idiom)/(fig.) groundless fears/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 杞人之憂

  • 杞
    qǐ

    Chinese wolfberry shrub (Lycium chinense) / willow

    Qǐ

    Qi, a Zhou Dynasty vassal state / surname Qi

  • 人
  • 之
    zhī

    (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it

  • 忧
    yōu

    to worry / to concern oneself with / worried / anxiety / sorrow / (literary) to observe mourning

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.