一筆不苟

简 一笔不苟 · 繁 一筆不苟
Mandarin · pinyin yī bǐ bù gǒu

Meanings

  1. lit. not even one stroke is negligent (idiom)
  2. fig. to write characters (calligraphy) in which every stroke is placed perfectly
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Characters in this entry

一
yī · one; a, an; alone
筆
bǐ · writing brush; write; stroke
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
苟
gǒu · careless, frivolous; illicit; grammatical particle: if, but, if only; surname; grass name
笔
bǐ · writing brush; write; stroke
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–3–4–3 · yi1 bi3 bu4 gou3

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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.

一筆不苟 · find source passages ↗ · 一笔不苟 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 bat1 bat1 gau2

Cantonese word readings for 一筆不苟. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

一筆不苟 · yi1 bi3 bu4 gou3
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 812
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record一筆不苟 一笔不苟 [yi1 bi3 bu4 gou3] /lit. not even one stroke is negligent (idiom)/fig. to write characters (calligraphy) in which every stroke is placed perfectly/