措手不及

Mandarin · pinyin cuò shǒu bù jí

Meanings

  1. no time to deal with it (idiom); caught unprepared
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Characters in this entry

措
cuò · place; collect, arrange; employ
手
shǒu · hand
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
及
jí · extend; reach; come up to; and
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–2 · cuo4 shou3 bu4 ji2

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cou3 sau2 bat1 kap6

Cantonese word readings for 措手不及. 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) to be caught unawares

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

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