动不动

• 拼音: dòng bu dòng
• 汉字拆解: 动 = 云 + 力 (to move/act); 不 = negation particle; 动 repeated = indicating habitual, hair-trigger behaviour

含义

At the slightest provocation; without good reason; always (doing something excessive or negative). Describes habitual, impulsive, or easily triggered behaviour.

Almost always carries a critical or disapproving tone. It implies that someone reacts too quickly or too frequently to minor stimuli — getting angry too easily, crying too readily, or making threats impulsively. Common in colloquial speech as gentle criticism of someone's overreactions.

例句

1. 他动不动就发脾气，同事们都不敢轻易跟他说话。
2. 这孩子动不动就哭鼻子，让家长十分头疼。
3. 一遇到困难，他动不动就打退堂鼓，缺乏坚持的勇气。

用法指南

语境: behaviour, criticism, personality, colloquial

语气: negative

正确说法

• 他动不动就以辞职相威胁，时间一长，领导也不再认真对待了。(He always threatens to quit at the slightest thing, and after a while, management no longer took it seriously.)
• 青少年动不动就沉迷手机，家长需要适当引导而非一味指责。(Teenagers are always getting absorbed in their phones at the slightest opportunity; parents need to guide them appropriately rather than simply criticising.)

错误说法

• 他动不动地努力工作 — 动不动 has a fixed idiomatic meaning of habitual impulsive or excessive behaviour; it cannot be used positively or neutrally as a general adverb

起源与历史

动 (to move/act) + 不动 (not moving) — the paradoxical pairing means 'at every slight movement', i.e. at the slightest provocation

文化背景

世代: All ages

社会背景: Universal