随波逐流

隨波逐流

suíbō-zhúliú

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

HSK 5

他从不随波逐流，总是坚持自己的判断。

Tā cóngbù suíbō-zhúliú, zǒngshì jiānchí zìjǐ de pànduàn.

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

HSK 7-9

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 suíbō-zhúliú 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