有意无意

有意無意
yǒuyì-wúyì
idiom #43,604

Meanings

  1. 1 intentionally or not
  2. 2 half on purpose, half by accident
  3. 3 deliberate or unwitting

Examples

HSK 3
Tā shuōhuà shí yǒuyì-wúyì de tídào le zhè jiàn shì.
As she spoke, she brought the matter up as if half by chance.
HSK 3
Jiāzhǎng de tàidù yǒuyì-wúyì de yǐngxiǎng zhe háizi.
Parents' attitudes shape their children, consciously or not.
HSK 7-9
Tā yǒuyì-wúyì de piē le wǒ yìyǎn.
He glanced at me in a way that might or might not have been deliberate.

Tips

history
From 《世说新语·文学》: a reply that the new fu lies 正在有意无意之间, 'precisely between intention and non-intention.' Originally an aesthetic principle, now generalized to any ambiguous action.
usage
Typically adverbial (有意无意地 + verb). Describes actions where the speaker can't or won't say whether the agent meant it, deniable but suspicious.

Stroke Order

yǒu