依依不舍 (yī yī bù shě)

Character breakdown

• 依 (yī) · 8 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 衣 represents the sound.

• 依 (yī) · 8 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 衣 represents the sound.

• 不 (bù) · 4 strokes

  Pictograph of sepals of a flower. The modern meaning "no" is a phonetic loan.

• 舍 (shě) · 8 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound. 口 (mouth) indicates that the character is only "mouthed", i.e. only used for its phonetic value.

Usage

分别时，大家依依不舍。

reluctant to part (idiom); broken-hearted at having to leave

fēn bié shí ， dà jiā yī yī bù shě 。