子虚乌有

子虛烏有

zǐxūwūyǒu

idiom #21,256

Meanings

1 purely fictitious
2 to have no basis in fact
3 to be entirely made up

Characters

empty / fictitious

crow / none (classical)

Examples

这个谣言纯属子虚乌有，请不要相信。

Zhège yáoyán chúnshǔ zǐxū wūyǒu, qǐng bùyào xiāngxìn.

This rumor is completely made up — please don't believe it.

他的指控子虚乌有，没有任何证据。

Tā de zhǐkòng zǐxū wūyǒu, méiyǒu rènhé zhèngjù.

His accusations are entirely fictitious with no evidence whatsoever.

Tips

history

This idiom comes from Han Dynasty writer Sima Xiangru's (司马相如) prose poem 子虚赋 (Zǐxū Fù). The characters 子虚 (Master Fictitious) and 乌有 (Mr. Nonexistent) are names of invented characters in the poem, hence the idiom meaning 'purely imaginary.'

Stroke Order

子 zǐ

虚 xū

乌 wū

有 yǒu