乌合之众

烏合之眾

wūhézhīzhòng

idiom #20,622

Meanings

1 a disorderly rabble
2 a motley crew
3 a mob without discipline or organization

Characters

to gather; to join

structural particle (of)

crowd; multitude

Examples

敌军不过是一群乌合之众，很快就溃败了。

Díjūn bùguò shì yī qún wūhézhīzhòng, hěn kuài jiù kuìbài le.

The enemy troops were nothing but a disorderly rabble and quickly collapsed.

这支球队缺乏训练，简直是乌合之众。

Zhè zhī qiúduì quēfá xùnliàn, jiǎnzhí shì wūhézhīzhòng.

This team lacks training — they are simply a motley crew.

Tips

history

This idiom originates from the 後漢書 (Hou Han Shu, Book of the Later Han), where it described an undisciplined army as resembling crows randomly flocking together. Crows (乌) are known for gathering chaotically, making them a symbol of disorder.

memory

Picture a flock of crows (乌) suddenly flocking (合) together — no order, just chaos. That is the crowd (众) described by this idiom.

Stroke Order

乌 wū

合 hé

之 zhī

众 zhòng