when things reach an extreme, they can only move in the opposite direction (idiom)
trad. 物極必反
Also written 物極必反【wù jí bì fǎn】
Characters in this word
4物
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
(bound form) thing, (literary) the outside world as distinct from oneself; people other than oneself
- Pinyin
- wù
- Strokes
- 8
- Frequency
- 6704 of 2500
极
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
extremely, pole (geography, physics), utmost, top
- Pinyin
- jí
- Traditional
- 極
- Strokes
- 7
- Frequency
- 6660 of 2500
必
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
certainly, must, will, necessarily
- Pinyin
- bì
- Strokes
- 5
- Frequency
- 9692 of 2500
反
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
contrary, in reverse, inside out or upside down, to reverse, to return, to oppose, opposite, against, anti-, to rebel, to use analogy, instead, abbr. for 反切[fan3 qie4] phonetic system
- Pinyin
- fǎn
- Strokes
- 4
- Frequency
- 2794 of 2500