Meanings
nounwu wei (uncountable)
alternative wu-wei
- uncountableA state of effortless inaction, in Taoism or Chinese statecraft.
These alternatives seem tepid, or even reactionary – take Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi’s invocation of a politics of exhaustion that would ‘become the beginning of a slow movement toward a “wu wei” civilization, based on withdrawal, and frugal expectations for life and consumption’.
2013, Benjamin Noys, quoting Franco Berardi, Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism, Zero Books, →ISBN
Origin
- Chinese無為 /无为
- Englishwu wei
Borrowed from Chinese 無為 /无为 (wúwéi).
More words from Chinese
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
wu wei. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wu%20wei
MLA
“wu wei.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wu%20wei. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wu wei,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wu%20wei.
Source: wu wei on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.