Skip to content
shì 事 yǔ 与 yuàn 愿 wéi 违

事与愿违 shì yǔ yuàn wéi

things turn out contrary to one's wishes; to backfire

Literally: matters with wishes contrary

🃏 Practise advanced chengyu

Tap a character above to see its stroke order and the words it appears in.

Origin

From a poem by the Three Kingdoms poet Ji Kang: 事与愿违,遘兹淹留.

How to use it

Predicate or standalone; negative, resigned. Often 结果却事与愿违.

Example sentences

Show:

Tap any word for its meaning and pinyin. The chengyu is highlighted.

  1. 他本想给妻子一个惊喜,结果却事与愿违,闹出了误会。
    Tā běn xiǎng gěi qīzi yī gè jīngxǐ, jiéguǒ què shì yǔ yuàn wéi, nàochū le wùhuì.
    He meant to surprise his wife, but it backfired and caused a misunderstanding.
    he originally want give wife one (measure) surprise, result however matters with wishes contrary, stir-up (particle) misunderstanding
  2. 政府希望通过限价稳定市场,可惜事与愿违,商品反而更紧缺了。
    Zhèngfǔ xīwàng tōngguò xiànjià wěndìng shìchǎng, kěxī shì yǔ yuàn wéi, shāngpǐn fǎn'ér gèng jǐnquē le.
    The government hoped price caps would stabilise the market, but unfortunately the opposite happened and goods became scarcer.
    government hope through price-limit stabilise market, pity matters with wishes contrary, goods instead more scarce (particle)

More chengyu about success & failure

All success & failure chengyu →