不速之客

bùsùzhīkè

idiom #15,800

Meanings

1 uninvited guest
2 unexpected visitor

Characters

to invite (archaic); fast (modern)

of (literary particle)

Examples

家里突然来了一位不速之客。

Jiā lǐ tūrán lái le yí wèi bùsùzhīkè.

An uninvited guest suddenly showed up at home.

对于这位不速之客，大家都感到很意外。

Duìyú zhè wèi bùsùzhīkè, dàjiā dōu gǎndào hěn yìwài.

Everyone was surprised by this unexpected visitor.

Tips

history

From the Book of Changes (易经): 速 here means 'to invite' (an archaic meaning), not 'fast.' So 不速之客 literally means 'a guest who was not invited.' This idiom has been in use for over 2,000 years.

mistakes

Don't confuse 速 (invite, archaic) with 速 (fast, modern). The idiom does NOT mean 'a guest who is not fast.'

Stroke Order

不 bù

速 sù

之 zhī

客 kè