身 外 之 物

shēn wài zhī wùdictionary entry

mere worldly possessions

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-a24b53af7401c9e3. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

身外之物身外之物 [shen1 wai4 zhi1 wu4] /mere worldly possessions/

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.

身
shēn
body / life / oneself / personally / one's morality and conduct / the main part of a structure or body / pregnant / classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset / Kangxi radical 158
外
wài
outside / in addition / foreign / external
之
zhī
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it
物
wù
(bound form) thing / (literary) the outside world as distinct from oneself / people other than oneself

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.