居然
jūrán
unexpectedly, to one’s surprise
Part of speech · adverb
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- 这么难的题,他居然做对了。Such a hard problem, and he unexpectedly got it right.
- 没想到他居然迟到了。I didn’t expect that he would actually be late.
Collocations
居然成功居然忘了居然敢竟然
Mnemonic
居 jū "to dwell" + 然 rán "thus": "unexpectedly, to one’s surprise". An adverb marking astonishment at something against expectation. Synonymous with 竟然. Opposite in feel to 果然 (as expected).
Related
竟然竟没想到果然
Quick check
What is the difference between 居然 and 果然?