Today’s word
Word Breakdown
食 (shí) v. eat
言 (yán) n. words
Quick Answer
Definition & Usage
食言 literally means to eat one’s words, its actual meaning is “to break a promise”, and “to go back on one’s word”. It’s an intransitive verb, actually, it is a verb-object compound, so we don’t need to add any more objects after it.
Homonyms and similar pronunciation words
食盐 (shíyán) n. salt
失言 (shīyán) v. 不小心把不该说的话说出来了。slip of the tongue / to blurt out a secret
誓言 (shìyán) n. Oath, vow. 结婚誓言(marriage vows)
Example Sentences
那个人没什么信用，常常食言。
Nàgè rén méishénme xìnyòng, chángcháng shíyán.
That guy has no credibility and often breaks his word.
你明明答应我要一起去旅游，怎么突然食言了？
Nǐ míngmíng dāyìng wǒ yào yīqǐ qù lǚyóu, zěnme tūrán shíyán le?
You promised me that you will go travel with me, why do you break your word now?
我这个人说到做到，答应你的事，一定不会食言。
Wǒ zhège rén shuō dào zuò dào, dāyìng nǐ de shì, yīdìng bú huì shíyán.
I am the one who is as good as my word, whatever I promise you, I will never fail you.