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不爭氣

简不争气 · 繁不爭氣

Mandarin · pinyin bù zhēng qì

to be disappointing
to fail to live up to expectations

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
爭: Look up this written character
氣: qì · air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit
争: zhēng · dispute, fight, contend, strive
气: qì · steam, vapor; Kangxi radical 84

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4 · bu4 zheng1 qi4

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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.

不爭氣 · find source passages ↗ · 不争气 · 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.

adj

disappointing; failing to live up to expectations

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

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