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言不及義

简 言不及义 · 繁 言不及義
Mandarin · pinyin yán bù jí yì

Meanings

  1. to talk nonsense (idiom)
  2. frivolous talk
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Characters in this entry

言
yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
及
jí · extend; reach; come up to; and
義
Look up this written character
义
yì · right conduct, righteousness
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 言不及義 ↗Words written with 言 ↗Words written with 不 ↗Words written with 及 ↗Words written with 義 ↗Words written with 义 ↗

Mandarin tones

2–4–2–4 · yan2 bu4 ji2 yi4

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

jin4 bat1 kap6 ji6

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. (idiomatic) to never talk about anything serious; to talk frivolously

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

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