万无一失 (wàn wú yī shī)

Character breakdown

• 万 (mò) · 3 strokes

  Variant of 丏. Depicts a person (人) with a cover on top, conveying the original meaning "to not be seen". The current meaning is a phonetic loan. Simplified form of 萬.

• 无 (mó) · 4 strokes

  Pictograph of a person dancing, with ox tails or bird feathers hanging from his arms, to pray for rain. Original form of 舞 (dance). The current form is a phonetic loan. The simplified character 无 was…

• 一 (yī) · 1 strokes

  A single horizontal stroke, representing the number one.

• 失 (shī) · 5 strokes

  Depicts a person with their hair loose. Based on the original meaning "leisure; carefree", now written as 佚. The meaning later shifted to "lose" and "fail".

Usage

这个计划必须做到万无一失。

surefire; absolutely safe (idiom)

zhè ge jì huà bì xū zuò dào wàn wú yī shī 。