DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

哀莫大於心死

简哀莫大于心死 · 繁哀莫大於心死

Mandarin · pinyin āi mò dà yú xīn sǐ

nothing sadder than a withered heart (idiom attributed to Confucius by Zhuangzi 莊子 Zhuāng zǐ)
no greater sorrow than a heart that never rejoices
the worst sorrow is not as bad as an uncaring heart
nothing is more wretched than apathy

Characters in this entry

哀: āi · sad, mournful, pitiful; pity
莫: mò · do not, is not, can not; negative
大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
於: yú · yū · in, at, on; interjection alas!
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
死: sǐ · die; dead; death
于: yú · in, on, at; go to; surname

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

1–4–4–2–1–3 · ai1 mo4 da4 yu2 xin1 si3

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

7character links1source reference

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

oi1 mok6 daai6 jyu1 sam1 sei2

Cantonese word readings for 哀莫大於心死. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

oi1 mok6 daai6 jyu1 sam1 sei2

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

Despair is the greatest sorrow; Nothing gives greater cause for sorrow than despair; There is no grief so great as despair; There is no poverty like the poverty of spirit.