不易

bùyì

adjective HSK 5 #17,557

Meanings

Xué hǎo Zhōngwén bù yì.

Mastering Chinese is not easy.

Lái zhī bù yì de jīhuì, yào hǎohǎo zhēnxī.

An opportunity that was hard to come by should be cherished.

Chuàngyè bù yì, xūyào hěn dà de yǒngqì.

Starting a business is not easy; it takes great courage.

usage

不易 is more formal/literary than 不容易 (bù róngyì). The set phrase 来之不易 (hard-won, not easily obtained) is extremely common.

history

易 originally meant 'to change' (as in 易经 Yìjīng, the Book of Changes). Its meaning of 'easy' developed later.

不 bù

易 yì