醉 翁 之 意 不 在 酒

zuì wēng zhī yì bù zài jiǔdictionary entry

wine-lover's heart is not in the cup (idiom); a drinker not really interested in alcohol / having an ulterior motive / to have other things in mind / with an ax to grind / accomplishing something besides what one set out to do

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-9f04a9f85c75fba9. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

醉翁之意不在酒 醉翁之意不在酒 [zui4 weng1 zhi1 yi4 bu4 zai4 jiu3] /wine-lover's heart is not in the cup (idiom); a drinker not really interested in alcohol/having an ulterior motive/to have other things in mind/with an ax to grind/accomplishing something besides what one set out to do/

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.

醉
zuì
intoxicated
翁
wēng
elderly man / father / father-in-law / neck feathers of a bird (old)
Wēng
surname Weng
之
zhī
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it
意
yì
(bound form) idea; thought; meaning; sense / (bound form) intention; feeling; inclination; state of mind / (bound form) Italy (abbr. for 意大利[Yì dà lì])
不
bù
no; not so / (bound form) not; un-
在
zài
to exist; to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)
酒
jiǔ
wine (esp. rice wine) / liquor / spirits / alcoholic beverage / CL:杯[bēi],瓶[píng],罐[guàn],桶[tǒng],缸[gāng]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.