DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

不怕賊偷就怕賊惦記

简不怕贼偷就怕贼惦记 · 繁不怕賊偷就怕賊惦記

Mandarin · pinyin bù pà zéi tōu jiù pà zéi diàn jì

much worse than having something stolen is when a thief has you in his sights (idiom)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
怕: pà · to fear, be afraid of; apprehensive
賊: Look up this written character
偷: tōu · to steal, burglar, thief
就: jiù · just, simply; to come, go to; to approach, near
惦: diàn · think of, remember, miss
記: jì · record; keep in mind, remember
贼: zéi · thief, traitor; kill
记: jì · record; keep in mind, remember

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–4–2–1–4–4–2–4–4 · bu4 pa4 zei2 tou1 jiu4 pa4 zei2 dian4 ji4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

8character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

不怕賊偷就怕賊惦記 · find source passages ↗ · 不怕贼偷就怕贼惦记 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗