微不足道

• Pinyin: wēi bù zú dào
• Hanzi breakdown: 微 = 彳(step) + 攴 (strike) + 山 (mountain) — something faint or minute; 足 = 口 (mouth) + 止 (foot) — sufficient; 道 = 辶(walk) + 首 (head) — to speak, a path

Meaning

Negligible; insignificant; not worth mentioning. So small or trivial as to be beneath notice.

A four-character idiom (成语) used to dismiss something as too small or unimportant to be worth considering. Can be used sincerely (this contribution really is minor) or with false modesty (what I've done is a small thing). Common in formal writing, speeches, and polite self-deprecation.

Examples

1. 与整个项目的规模相比，我们的贡献实在是微不足道。 Compared to the scale of the whole project, our contribution is really negligible.
2. 这些微不足道的细节问题不应该影响到整体方案的推进。 These insignificant detail issues should not be allowed to hold back the progress of the overall plan.
3. 他谦虚地说，自己所做的一切都是微不足道的，功劳属于团队。 He modestly said that everything he had done was a trifle — the credit belongs to the team.

Usage Guide

Context: modesty, formal speech, comparison

Tone: humble

Do Say

• 我们的帮助微不足道，您不必挂怀。(Our help is a trifling thing — please don't give it a second thought.)
• 个人的力量微不足道，但汇聚在一起就能创造奇迹。(The power of an individual is negligible, but when gathered together it can create miracles.)

Don't Say

• 用微不足道形容非常重要的事，哪怕出于反讽目的也要小心语境 — in ironic use, make the context very clear; otherwise the idiom straightforwardly means 'truly trivial and unimportant'

Origin & History

微 (minute, tiny) + 不 (not) + 足 (sufficient, worth) + 道 (to speak of, to mention). Literally 'too tiny to be worth speaking of' — utterly negligible.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal