出人意料 (chū rén yì liào)

Character breakdown

• 出 (chū) · 5 strokes

  Pictograph of a foot (止) exiting a cave (凵).

• 人 (rén) · 2 strokes

  Pictograph of the side view of a standing person.

• 意 (Yì) · 13 strokes

  Thought (意) is the sound (音) that comes from the mind (心). (Oversimplified for brevity. The 音 component in this character has a complicated history.)

• 料 (liào) · 10 strokes

  Depicts a ladle (斗) full of rice (米).

Usage

这个结果很出人意料。

unexpected (idiom); surprising

zhè ge jié guǒ hěn chū rén yì liào 。