无穷

• Pinyin: wú qióng
• Hanzi breakdown: 无 = negation (without); 穷 = 穴 + 力 (cave + effort — exhausted, at the end of one's resources)

Meaning

Infinite; boundless; without end or limit. Describes something that has no boundary in quantity, degree, or extent.

Used to describe abstract and concrete things alike — wisdom, resources, potential, suffering, possibilities. Frequently appears in academic, literary, and philosophical writing. Often intensified as 无穷无尽.

Examples

1. 宇宙的奥秘无穷无尽，人类对它的探索永远不会停止。 The mysteries of the universe are endless, and humanity’s exploration of them will never stop.
2. 她从书籍中汲取无穷的力量，即使在最艰难的岁月里也从未放弃。 She drew boundless strength from books and never gave up, even in the hardest years.
3. 科技创新所蕴藏的可能性是无穷的，关键在于如何将其转化为实际价值。 The possibilities hidden in technological innovation are limitless; the key is how to turn them into real value.

Usage Guide

Context: philosophy, science, literature, motivation

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 他指出，量子世界层次无穷，我们今天的认识只是起点。(He pointed out that the quantum world has boundless layers, and our current understanding is only a starting point.)
• 她相信语言学习所带来的乐趣是无穷的——每掌握一门新语言，便如同打开一扇通往全新文明与思维方式的大门，令人陶醉其中，欲罢不能。(She believes that the pleasure brought by language learning is infinite — mastering each new language is like opening a door to an entirely new civilisation and way of thinking, a joy that captivates and never exhausts.)

Don't Say

• 无穷 for something that is merely very large in quantity — use 大量 or 众多; 无穷 implies a genuine or conceptual absence of any limit, not just an impressively large number

Origin & History

无 (without) + 穷 (end, exhaustion) — without end or exhaustion

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal