泛泛之交

fànfànzhījiāo

idiom

Meanings

1 nodding acquaintance
2 casual friend; superficial relationship

Characters

shallow; superficial

(possessive particle)

Examples

我们只是泛泛之交，谈不上深交。

Wǒmen zhǐ shì fànfànzhījiāo, tán bù shàng shēnjiāo.

We're only nodding acquaintances, hardly close friends.

微信好友里大多数是泛泛之交。

Wēixìn hǎoyǒu lǐ dàduōshù shì fànfànzhījiāo.

Most of my WeChat contacts are just casual acquaintances.

Tips

history

Recorded in Zhu Xi's 朱子语类 (Classified Conversations of Master Zhu, Song dynasty): 'as for casual acquaintances (泛然之交), there's no need to attend to each one'. Compare with 莫逆之交 (closest friends) and 患难之交 (friends through hardship).

Stroke Order

泛 fàn

之 zhī

交 jiāo