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不是東西

简不是东西 · 繁不是東西

Mandarin · pinyin bù shì dōng xi

(derog.) to be a good-for-nothing
worthless nobody
no-good

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
東: dōng · east, eastern, eastward
西: xī · west(ern); westward; occident; Kangxi radical 146
东: dōng · east, eastern, eastward

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–5 · bu4 shi4 dong1 xi5

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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.

不是東西 · find source passages ↗ · 不是东西 · 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

(colloquial, insult, derogatory, slang, idiomatic) to be a contemptible person; to be worthless

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

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