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不時

简不时 · 繁不時

Mandarin · pinyin bù shí

from time to time
now and then
occasionally
frequently

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
時: shí · time, season; era, age, period
时: shí · time, season; era, age, period

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2 · bu4 shi2

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3character links2same-tone records

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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.

不時 · find source passages ↗ · 不时 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bat1 si4

Cantonese word readings for 不時. 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.

adv

often; frequently
from time to time; now and then
anytime; at any time

noun

a certain time; sometime

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

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