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不明不白

Mandarin · pinyin bù míng bù bái

Meanings

  1. (idiom) obscure; dubious; shady
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Characters in this entry

不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
明
míng · bright, light, brilliant; clear
白
bái · white; pure, unblemished; bright
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 不明不白 ↗Words written with 不 ↗Words written with 明 ↗Words written with 白 ↗

Mandarin tones

4–2–4–2 · bu4 ming2 bu4 bai2

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Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bat1 ming4 bat1 baak6

Cantonese word readings for 不明不白. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

bat1 ming4 bat1 baak6

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) unclear; vague; ambiguous
  2. (idiomatic) without a clear reason; for no reason; unjustly
  3. (idiomatic) shady; of an unclear source

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack