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不可一世

Mandarin · pinyin bù kě yī shì

(idiom) to consider oneself unexcelled in the world; to be insufferably arrogant

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
可: kě · may, can, -able; possibly
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
世: shì · generation; world; era

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–4 · bu4 ke3 yi1 shi4

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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.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bat1 ho2 jat1 sai3

Cantonese word readings for 不可一世. 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 consider oneself the best in the world; to have an overweening or insufferable arrogance

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

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