Definition
破天荒 is a set phrase meaning 'unprecedented' or 'epoch-making'. Its literal meaning is 'breaking the wilderness', originating from a Tang Dynasty story about the first person from a region to pass the imperial examinations. You can use it attributively with 的 (e.g., 破天荒的成就) or adverbially with 地 (e.g., 破天荒地做了某事). It commonly appears in the phrase 破天荒第一次 to emphasize something happening for the very first time.
attr.
unprecedentedepoch-makingfirst of its kind
Examples
- 破天荒。Zhè shì pò tiān huāng de dì-yī cì.This is an unprecedented first time.
- 破天荒。Tā pò tiān huāng de wánchéng le zhè jiàn bù kěnéng de shì.He unprecedentedly accomplished this impossible task.
- 破天荒。Zhè jiā gōngsī pò tiān huāng de tuīchū le miǎnfèi de chǎnpǐn.This company unprecedentedly launched a free product.
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