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只說不做

简 只说不做 · 繁 只說不做
Mandarin · pinyin zhǐ shuō bù zuò

Meanings

  1. to be all talk and no action
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Characters in this entry

只
zhǐ · only, just, simply
說
shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
做
zuò · work, make; act
说
shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 只說不做 ↗Words written with 只 ↗Words written with 說 ↗Words written with 不 ↗Words written with 做 ↗Words written with 说 ↗

Mandarin tones

3–1–4–4 · zhi3 shuo1 bu4 zuo4

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) all talk and no action

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

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