Chinese word

偏偏

Pronunciation

Pinyinpiān piān

Meaning

  • adverbunfortunately

Example

偏偏下雨了。piān piān xià yǔ le

Unfortunately, it rained.

Illustration for 偏偏 (unfortunately)

More examples

他准备得很充分，可偏偏遇到突发情况。tā zhǔn bèi de hěn chōng fèn kě piān piān yù dào tū fā qíng kuàng

He prepared very thoroughly, but unfortunately ran into an unexpected situation.

Core concept

It marks a sharp veer away from what is expected or wanted, whether circumstances or a person cause the change.

Common phrases

  • 偏偏就是piān piān jiù shì

    insist on doing so

  • 偏偏遇到piān piān yù dào

    unfortunately encounter

Similar words

竟然jìng rán: Marks a fact or result as surprisingly different from what was expected.
刚好gāng hǎo: Indicates that something occurs at exactly the right time or reaches the exact state needed.

Definition in Chinese

用于强调事情偏向不利或恰与愿望相反的情况，并且在某些结构中用来强调行为人的故意或固执（如偏偏要、偏偏不）。yòng yú qiáng diào shì qíng piān xiàng bú lì huò qià yǔ yuàn wàng xiāng fǎn de qíng kuàng bìng qiě zài mǒu xiē jié gòu zhōng yòng lái qiáng diào xíng wéi rén de gù yì huò gù zhí rú piān piān yào piān piān bù

Word origin

偏偏 (piānpiān, "unexpectedly or stubbornly") repeats 偏 (piān, "to lean to one side"), intensifying the idea of a marked departure from the expected path.

Usage tips

  • The force changes with the context: an event can make the speaker sound disappointed, while a person's choice can sound stubborn or intentional.

Other meanings

  • deliberatelyadverb
  • for some reasonadverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word