低劣

Mandarin · pinyin dī liè

Meanings

  1. inferior quality
  2. substandard
  3. low-grade
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Characters in this entry

低
dī · low; to lower, hang, bend, bow
劣
liè · bad, inferior; slightly
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · di1 lie4

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dai1 lyut6

Cantonese word readings for 低劣. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

adj

  1. poor; inferior; substandard; low-grade

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

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