只可意会，不可言传
zhǐ​kě​yì​huì​bù​kě​yán​chuán

can be understood but not described

  • created sense approved 只可意会，不可言传/只可意會，不可言傳 · zhǐ​kě​yì​huì​bù​kě​yán​chuán · can be understood but not described — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    只可意会，不可言传 / 只可意會，不可言傳

    zhǐ​kě​yì​huì​bù​kě​yán​chuán

    can be understood but not described

    can only be felt or understood through intuition and experience, but cannot be expressed with words; mysterious and subtle; used to describe profound truths or feelings (from Zhuangzi)

    只 (literal) → 只 · zhǐ · only 可 (literal) → 可 · kě · can 意会 (literal) → 意会/意會 · yì​huì · to grasp intuitively ， (non_chinese) 不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 可 (literal) → 可 · kě · can 言传 (literal) → 言传/言傳 · yán​chuán · to convey in words

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense