The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

天有不测风云，人有旦夕祸福

tiān yǒu bù cè fēng yún , rén yǒu dàn xī huò fúdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
fortune as unpredictable as the weather, every day may bring fortune or calamity (idiom) / sth unexpected may happen at any moment
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-f942d6895ee525ee. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

天有不測風雲，人有旦夕禍福 天有不测风云，人有旦夕祸福 [tian1 you3 bu4 ce4 feng1 yun2 , ren2 you3 dan4 xi1 huo4 fu2] /fortune as unpredictable as the weather, every day may bring fortune or calamity (idiom); sth unexpected may happen at any moment/

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: 天有不測風雲，人有旦夕禍福

  • 天
    tiān

    day / sky / heaven

  • 有
    yǒu

    to have / there is / (bound form) having / with / -ful / -ed / -al (as in 有意[yǒu yì] intentional)

  • 不
    bù

    no / not so / (bound form) not / un-

  • 测
    cè

    to survey / to measure / to conjecture

  • 风
    fēng

    wind / news / style / custom / manner / CL:陣|阵[zhèn],絲|丝[sī]

  • 云
    yún

    (classical) to say / cloud / CL:朵[duǒ]

    Yún

    surname Yun / short name for Yunnan 雲南|云南[Yún nán]

  • 人
  • 有
    yǒu

    to have / there is / (bound form) having / with / -ful / -ed / -al (as in 有意[yǒu yì] intentional)

  • 旦
    dàn

    (literary) dawn / daybreak / dan, female role in Chinese opera (traditionally played by specialized male actors)

  • 夕
    xī

    (bound form) sunset / dusk / (bound form) evening / night / Taiwan pr. [xì]

  • 祸
    huò

    disaster / misfortune / calamity

  • 福
    fú

    good fortune / happiness / luck

    Fú

    surname Fu / abbr. for Fujian province 福建省[Fú jiàn Shěng]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.