无微不至
- Literal
- there is no detail so small that it is not reached
- Figurative
- To look after someone with such meticulous care that not even the smallest detail is overlooked; usually said as praise.
Where does 无微不至 come from?
It does not come from a particular tale: it is a set phrase built on the double-negative frame 无…不… ("there is nothing… that is not…"), a very productive pattern in Chinese for expressing completeness with no gaps. Here 微 means the tiny, the fine detail, and 至 means "to reach as far as," giving the sense of care that extends even to the smallest thing. It shows up mostly in talk about how people treat each other —nursing the sick, hosting a guest, raising a child— and almost always as a compliment.
How is 无微不至 used? Two examples
- 他生病那几天，室友照顾得无微不至。
The days he was sick, his roommate looked after him without missing a single detail.
- 酒店的服务无微不至，连拖鞋的尺码都问了。
The hotel service is attentive down to the last detail; they even asked what size slippers we wore.
In Wanyu, all 400 chengyu have audio on every sentence, and you can save them to your decks and review them with spaced repetition. Free.
