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一竅不通

简一窍不通 · 繁一竅不通

Mandarin · pinyin yī qiào bù tōng

lit. doesn't (even) enter a single aperture (of one's head)
I don't understand a word (idiom)
it's all Greek to me

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
竅: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
通: tōng · pass through; common; communicate
窍: qiào · hole, opening, aperture

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–4–1 · yi1 qiao4 bu4 tong1

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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.

一竅不通 · find source passages ↗ · 一窍不通 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 hiu3 bat1 tung1

Cantonese word readings for 一竅不通. 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 not understand a thing about the topic; it's all Greek to me

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

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