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一問三不知

简一问三不知 · 繁一問三不知

Mandarin · pinyin yī wèn sān bù zhī

lit. to reply "don't know" whatever the question (idiom)
fig. absolutely no idea of what's going on
complete ignorance

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
問: wèn · ask (about), inquire after
三: sān · three
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
知: zhī · know, perceive, comprehend
问: wèn · ask about, inquire after

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–4–1–4–1 · yi1 wen4 san1 bu4 zhi1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

一問三不知 · find source passages ↗ · 一问三不知 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 man6 saam1 bat1 zi1

Cantonese word readings for 一問三不知. 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

(idiomatic) to answer “no idea” to every question; to have absolutely no idea of what is going on, or pretend to be unaware; completely ignorant

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

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