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無中生有

简 无中生有 · 繁 無中生有
Mandarin · pinyin wú zhōng shēng yǒu

Meanings

  1. to create something from nothing (idiom)
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Characters in this entry

無
Look up this written character
中
zhōng · central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
生
shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
有
yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
无
wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 無中生有 ↗Words written with 無 ↗Words written with 中 ↗Words written with 生 ↗Words written with 有 ↗Words written with 无 ↗

Mandarin tones

2–1–1–3 · wu2 zhong1 sheng1 you3

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Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mou4 zung1 sang1 jau5

Cantonese word readings for 無中生有. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

mou4 zung1 sang1 jau5

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

  1. (Taoism) all existence sprang from nonexistence
  2. (idiomatic) to fabricate; to make up unfounded rumor; to trump up
  3. (idiomatic) out of thin air

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

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