二意 (èryì): divided loyalty; second thought…

Meanings

1 divided loyalty; second thoughts; wavering intent (literary, usually in 三心二意)

Characters

二

Examples

做事不要三心二意。

Zuòshì bù yào sānxīn'èryì.

Don't be of two minds when doing things.

对工作他从无二意。

Duì gōngzuò tā cóng wú èryì.

He has never wavered in his commitment to the work.

Tips

usage

二意 almost never stands alone in modern Chinese — it lives inside the idiom 三心二意 (sānxīn'èryì, 'three hearts and two minds' = wishy-washy, indecisive, half-hearted). The 二 here means 'split / second / divided' rather than literally 'two'. Compare antonym 一心一意 (single-minded devotion).