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吃啞巴虧

简吃哑巴亏 · 繁吃啞巴虧

Mandarin · pinyin chī yǎ ba kuī

to be forced to suffer in silence
unable to speak of one's bitter suffering

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Characters in this entry

吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
啞: Look up this written character
巴: bā · greatly desire, anxiously hope
虧: Look up this written character
哑: yǎ · dumb, mute; become hoarse
亏: kuī · lose, fail; damage; deficient

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–3–5–1 · chi1 ya3 ba5 kui1

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

hek3 aa2 baa1 kwai1

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.

verb

(figurative, idiomatic) to be unable to speak out about one’s grievances

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

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