Dictionary › 身不由己

身不由己

shēn bù yóu jǐ

4-character word

What 身不由己 means

1. idiom(of one's circumstances) beyond one's control; unable to do anything about it; (of one's actions) not subject to conscious control (i.e. done in spite of oneself)

The characters in 身不由己

• 身shēnbody; life; oneself
• 不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-
• 由yóuto follow; from; because of; due to
• 己jǐself; oneself; sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干

Words containing 身不由己

• 人在江湖，身不由己rén zài jiāng hú , shēn bù yóu jǐ(proverb) you can't always do as you like; one has to compromise in this world