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得來不易

简 得来不易 · 繁 得來不易
Mandarin · pinyin dé lái bù yì

Meanings

  1. hard to come by; not easily obtained; hard-won
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Characters in this entry

得
dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
來
lái · come, coming; return, returning
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
易
yì · change; easy
来
lái · come, coming; return, returning
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 得來不易 ↗Words written with 得 ↗Words written with 來 ↗Words written with 不 ↗Words written with 易 ↗Words written with 来 ↗

Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4 · de2 lai2 bu4 yi4

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dak1 loi4 bat1 ji6

Cantonese word readings for 得來不易. 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.

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) hard-earned; to have been obtained with a great deal of effort

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

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