随波逐流

隨波逐流

suíbōzhúliú

idiom #27,814

Meanings

1 to drift with the current
2 to follow the crowd blindly
3 to go with the flow without independent thought

Characters

to follow; to comply with

to chase; to follow

to flow; current

Examples

他从不随波逐流，总是坚持自己的判断。

Tā cóng bù suíbōzhúliú, zǒng shì jiānchí zìjǐ de pànduàn.

He never just goes with the flow — he always sticks to his own judgment.

在大众压力下随波逐流很容易，但坚守原则才是真正的勇气。

Zài dàzhòng yālì xià suíbōzhúliú hěn róngyì, dàn jiānshǒu yuánzé cái shì zhēnzhèng de yǒngqì.

It's easy to follow the crowd under public pressure, but holding firm to principles is true courage.

Tips

memory

随 = follow, 波 = wave, 逐 = chase/follow, 流 = current. Picture a leaf on a river — drifting wherever the waves and current take it, with no direction of its own. That's 随波逐流.

Stroke Order

随 suí

波 bō

逐 zhú

流 liú