feng shui
/fɛŋˈʃuː.i/UK/fʌŋˈʃweɪ/
feng shui noun: a system of spiritual energies, both good and evil, present in the natural features of landscapes.
Noun (1)
feng shui (uncountable)
- A system of spiritual energies, both good and evil, present in the natural features of landscapes.
- On my telling two missionaries here lately that this Government would not allow a road to be made to their coal mines because it would obstruct the Feng-shui, they only laughed at it. [...] The upper classes may have Feng-shui, and use it when it suits them, as the Government do; but they also...1869 March 15, “Summary of news from the Far East. China. Tientsin.”, in The London and China Telegraph, Japan Herald, and Journal of the Eastern Archipelago, French mail edition, volume XI, number...
- When the Hongkong Government cut a road, now known as the Gap, to the Happy Valley, the Chinese community was thrown into a state of abject terror and fright, on account of the disturbance which this amputation of the dragon's limbs would cause to the Feng-shui of Hongkong; and when many of the...1873, Ernest J. Eitel [i.e., Ernst Johann Eitel], “Introductory”, in Feng-shui: Or, The Rudiments of Natural Science in China, London: Trübner & Co., →OCLC, page 2
- Synonyms:
- Chinese geomancy, fung shui
- An ancient Chinese system of geomancy used to design buildings and graves, and to determine the spatial arrangement of things, according to rules about the flow of energy, aimed at achieving harmony with the environment, promoting good fortune and wealth, etc.
- Feng-Shui has long been the puzzle of European residents in China. It is the principle which is given as a reason for every opposition to modern improvements, and which commands the devotions of the Chinese to such an extent that they will commit murder to avenge its neglect. [...] This Feng-Shui...1875 March, “Art VI.—1. The Works of Confucius, Containing the Original Text with a Translation. By J[oshua] Marshman. Serampore. 1809. [...]”, in Edward I[sidore] Sears, editor, The National...
- In setting up his hut, he gives no heed to the customary consideration of geomancy in the Chinese tradition of feng shui: "I built my house without consulting any diviners."1986, William R. LaFleur, “Inns and Hermitages: The Structure of Impermanence”, in The Karma of Words: Buddhism and the Literary Arts in Medieval Japan, 1st paperback edition, Berkeley; Los Angeles...
- The state of having a space in a particular order, though not necessarily in accordance with any actual principles of the Chinese system of geomancy.
Verb
feng shui (third-person singular simple present feng shuis, present participle feng shuiing, simple past and past participle feng shuied)
- To arrange a space according to the rules of feng shui.
- I’m going to have my bedroom feng shuied. Maybe this will finally bring me good luck.
- Library school seemed like gay intellectual paradise to me. After years of unsplitting infinitives and feng shui-ing misplaced modifiers, I sheathed my editor's blue pencil and prepared to sharpen my mind.1998, John A. Barnett, “Out Publicly: The Professional and Personal of Gay Public Librarianship”, in James V[inson] Carmichael, Jr., editor, Daring to Find Our Names: The Search for Lesbigay Library...
Noun (2) capitalized: Feng Shui
Feng Shui (uncountable)
- Alternative letter-case form of feng shui.
- On my telling two missionaries here lately that this Government would not allow a road to be made to their coal mines because it would obstruct the Feng-shui, they only laughed at it. [...] The upper classes may have Feng-shui, and use it when it suits them, as the Government do; but they also...1869 March 15, “Summary of news from the Far East. China. Tientsin.”, in The London and China Telegraph, Japan Herald, and Journal of the Eastern Archipelago, French mail edition, volume XI, number...
- The following are translated copies of placards which have been extensively posted in the city and suburbs during the past week: [...] "[...] On recovering our Feng Shui land, then the state will be prosperous, the people peaceable, the winds moderate, and the rains favorable. Let all the people...1878 September 15, “Mr. [M. M.] De Lano to Mr. Holcombe. [Inclosure 3 in No. 61; No. 111; The Wu Shih Shan Riot. Placards.]”, in Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States...
feng shui meaning in Tagalog, Arabic, Indonesian and Thai
feng shui in Tagalog
- ancient Chinese system of geomancy used to design buildings and graves, and to determine the spatial arrangement of things
- punsoy
feng shui in Arabic
- ancient Chinese system of geomancy used to design buildings and graves, and to determine the spatial arrangement of things
- فِنْغ شُوي finḡ šūy
feng shui in Indonesian
- ancient Chinese system of geomancy used to design buildings and graves, and to determine the spatial arrangement of things
- fengsui, hongsui
feng shui in Thai
- ancient Chinese system of geomancy used to design buildings and graves, and to determine the spatial arrangement of things
- ฮวงจุ้ย huuang-jûi
More languagesFewer languages
- feng shui in Vietnamese
- phong thủy
Examples of feng shui in a sentence
- Thought this might be the perfect time to do the Feng Shui so went out and bought Cosmopolitan.1996, Helen Fielding, “Saturday, 11 November”, in Bridget Jones’s Diary, London: Picador, →ISBN; republished London: Penguin Books, 1999...
- A feng shui professional consults these currents to determine on which part of the Dragon a building rests.1996, Andrew Grzeskowiak, “The Work Environment”, in Barbara Szerlip, editor, Passport Hong Kong: Your Pocket Guide to Hong Kong Business...
- The Chinese believe feng shui, pronounced fung shway, can help blunt the ill effects to health and wealth brought on, for example, by the inauspicious jut of an adjacent building or hill.1997 January 31, Charles Hutzler, “Leader’s office hunt a lesson in arcana and parking problems”, in AP News, archived from the original on...
- Consequently, overly ornate bathrooms are not good from a feng shui point of view as they tend to hold the ch'i inside the room.2004, Richard Webster, “The Bathroom”, in 101 Feng Shui Tips for Your Home, St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publishers, →ISBN, page 93:
Synonyms of feng shui
Forms of feng shui
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Feng Shui |
| alternative form | fengshui |
| alternative form | feng-shui |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Fong choui |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | feng shuis |
| present participle | feng shuiing |
| past participle | feng shuied |
| past | feng shuied |
Origin of feng shui
Borrowed from Mandarin 風水 /风水 (fēngshuǐ, “feng shui (Chinese system of geomancy)”, literally “wind and water”): 風 /风 (fēng, “wind”) + 水 (shuǐ, “water”). Doublet of fung shui.
Words that rhyme with feng shui
Questions about feng shui
- What does feng shui mean?
- Feng shui means a system of spiritual energies, both good and evil, present in the natural features of landscapes.
- What is feng shui in Tagalog?
- Feng shui in Tagalog is punsoy. See Feng shui meaning in Tagalog.
- How do you use feng shui in a sentence?
- Thought this might be the perfect time to do the Feng Shui so went out and bought Cosmopolitan.
- What part of speech is feng shui?
- Feng shui can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce feng shui?
- Feng shui is pronounced /fʌŋˈʃweɪ/ (UK).
Words near feng shui in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: feng shui (page history and authors); Feng Shui (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-feng shui.ogg.
Cite this entry: “feng shui.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/feng_shui. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.