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難兄難弟

简 难兄难弟 · 繁 難兄難弟
Mandarin · pinyin nàn xiōng nàn dì

Meanings

  1. (idiom) companions in hardship; fellow sufferers
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Characters in this entry

難
Look up this written character
兄
xiōng · elder brother
弟
dì · young brother; junior; I, me
难
nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 難兄難弟 ↗Words written with 難 ↗Words written with 兄 ↗Words written with 弟 ↗Words written with 难 ↗

Mandarin tones

4–1–4–4 · nan4 xiong1 nan4 di4

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

naan4 hing1 naan4 dai6

Cantonese word readings for 難兄難弟. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

naan4 hing1 naan4 dai6

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 · Etymology 1

  1. (idiomatic) hard to tell who is better; to be as good; equally-matched two
  2. (ironic) of the same ilk; to be both bad

phrase · Etymology 2

  1. (idiomatic) fellow sufferers; in the same boat

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

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