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不學無術

简不学无术 · 繁不學無術

Mandarin · pinyin bù xué wú shù

without learning or skills (idiom); ignorant and incompetent

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
學: xué · learning, knowledge; school
無: Look up this written character
術: Look up this written character
学: xué · learning, knowledge; school
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
术: shù · art, skill, special feat; method, technique

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–2–4 · bu4 xue2 wu2 shu4

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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.

不學無術 · find source passages ↗ · 不学无术 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bat1 hok6 mou4 seot6

Cantonese word readings for 不學無術. 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 be tactless due to the lack of knowledge; without learning or skills; to be not keen on learning anything

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

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