独断专行

獨斷專行

dúduàn-zhuānxíng

idiom #38,070

Meanings

1 to decide and act arbitrarily on one's own
2 to take autocratic action
3 to ride roughshod over others' opinions

Characters

to decide; to judge

exclusively; solely

to act; to carry out

Examples

他独断专行，不听任何人的意见。

Tā dúduàn-zhuānxíng, bù tīng rènhérén de yìjiàn.

He acts autocratically and listens to no one's opinion.

领导独断专行，团队士气越来越低。

Lǐngdǎo dúduàn-zhuānxíng, tuánduì shìqì yuèláiyuè dī.

With a leader who makes all decisions alone, team morale keeps sliding.

公司决策不能独断专行，要集思广益。

Gōngsī juécè bùnéng dúduàn-zhuānxíng, yào jísīguǎngyì.

Company decisions can't be made unilaterally — they need input from many sources.

Tips

usage

Strongly critical — used of leaders and managers who bypass consultation. Common pairings: 独断专行的作风 (autocratic style), 反对独断专行. Antonym: 集思广益 (pool others' ideas for the common good).

memory

独 (alone) + 断 (decide) + 专 (exclusively) + 行 (act): "alone deciding, exclusively acting." Each character doubles down on the same idea of unilateral action.

Stroke Order

独 dú

断 duàn

专 zhuān

行 xíng