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不作為

简不作为 · 繁不作為

Mandarin · pinyin bù zuò wéi

nonfeasance
omission (law)

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
作: zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
為: Look up this written character
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2 · bu4 zuo4 wei2

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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.

不作為 · find source passages ↗ · 不作为 · find source passages ↗

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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.

verb

(of officials) to be inactive; to fail to fulfil one's duties

noun

(law) dereliction of duty; inaction; omission

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

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