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大而無當

简大而无当 · 繁大而無當

Mandarin · pinyin dà ér wú dàng

grandiose but impractical (idiom)
large but of no real use

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Characters in this entry

大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
無: Look up this written character
當: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
当: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–2–4 · da4 er2 wu2 dang4

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

daai6 ji4 mou4 dong3

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

(idiomatic) large but impractical; unwieldy

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

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