没ぼつ分ぶん暁ぎょう漢かん

also: わからずや

ぼ

つ

ぶ

ん

ぎょ

う

か

ん

Meanings

noun

obstinate person; blockhead

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

Refers to a stubborn, unreasonable person who won't listen to reason. The kanji form 没分暁漢 is a rare yojijukugo; in modern Japanese, わからずや is the usual written form.

彼かれはまったくのわからずやで、誰だれの言いうことも聞きかない。
He's a complete blockhead and won't listen to anyone.
あのわからずやを説せっ得とくするのは無む理りだ。
It's impossible to persuade that obstinate person.

Kanji

没drown, sink, hide
分part, minute of time, segment
暁daybreak, dawn, in the event
漢Sino-, China

Related words

頑がん固こ者もの
頑固者 is a more common word for a stubborn person, while わからずや emphasizes unreasonableness and refusal to understand.

Written forms

没分暁漢
- ぼつぶんぎょうかん
  Obscure four-character compound; the reading ぼつぶんぎょうかん is the standard on'yomi-based reading.
- わからずや
  gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
わからずや
gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
Common kana spelling for 'obstinate person'; the kanji form 没分暁漢 is a rare gikun/jukujikun reading.

Etymology

The kanji form 没分暁漢 is a rare yojijukugo whose components suggest 'a man who does not understand reason'; the reading わからずや is a gikun (meaning-based reading) derived from わからず (not understanding) + や (person suffix).