独断专行

獨斷專行

dúduànzhuānxíng

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 dúduànzhuānxíng, bù tīng rènhé rén 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 dúduànzhuānxíng, tuánduì shìqì yuè lái yuè 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 dúduànzhuānxíng, 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