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不甘示弱

Mandarin · pinyin bù gān shì ruò

(idiom) not to be outdone

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
甘: gān · sweetness; sweet, tasty
示: shì · show, manifest; demonstrate; Kangxi radical 113
弱: ruò · weak; fragile, delicate

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–4 · bu4 gan1 shi4 ruo4

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bat1 gam1 si6 joek6

Cantonese word readings for 不甘示弱. 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 be unwilling to be outdone; not to be outdone

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

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