Chinese word

归根结底

Pronunciation

Pinyinguī gēn jié dǐ

Meaning

  • adverbin the end

Example

归根结底，我们还是走了。guī gēn jié dǐ wǒ men hái shì zǒu le

In the end, we left anyway.

Illustration for 归根结底 (in the end)

More examples

归根结底在于大家缺乏沟通。guī gēn jié dǐ zài yú dà jiā quē fá gōu tōng

Ultimately, it comes down to everyone's lack of communication.

Core concept

Many details are gathered and brought back to the underlying point that explains the whole matter.

Common phrases

  • 归根结底在于guī gēn jié dǐ zài yú

    ultimately lies in

  • 归根结底来说guī gēn jié dǐ lái shuō

    ultimately speaking

Similar words

说到底shuō dào dǐ: Casually states the true reason or central point after setting aside surface details.
归根到底guī gēn dào dǐ: Shows the final conclusion by focusing on the root or essential nature of the matter.
说白了shuō bái le: Casually restates a complex matter in plain words to make its essence clear.
总之zǒng zhī: Gives only the key point or conclusion in a short summary.

Definition in Chinese

归纳各种情况后得出的最终结论，侧重说明事情的本质或最终结果。guī nà gè zhǒng qíng kuàng hòu dé chū de zuì zhōng jié lùn cè zhòng shuō míng shì qíng de běn zhì huò zuì zhōng jié guǒ

Word origin

The idiom combines 归 (guī, "return"), 根 (gēn, "root"), 结 (jié, "tie together"), and 底 (dǐ, "bottom") to picture a chain of thoughts returning to the root and bottom of a matter.

Usage tips

  • In conversation, this word often signals that the speaker is setting aside details to state what matters most about the situation.

Other meanings

  • in shortadverb
  • essentiallyadverb

Opposites

  • 表面看来biǎo miàn kàn láion the surfaceadverb

Word lists with this word