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不懂裝懂

简不懂装懂 · 繁不懂裝懂

Mandarin · pinyin bù dǒng zhuāng dǒng

to pretend to understand when you don't

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
懂: dǒng · understand, comprehend
裝: Look up this written character
装: zhuāng · dress, clothes, attire; fill

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–3 · bu4 dong3 zhuang1 dong3

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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.

不懂裝懂 · find source passages ↗ · 不懂装懂 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bat1 dung2 zong1 dung2

Cantonese word readings for 不懂裝懂. 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 pretend to understand when one doesn't

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

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