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不痛不癢

简不痛不痒 · 繁不痛不癢

Mandarin · pinyin bù tòng bù yǎng

lit. doesn't hurt, doesn't tickle (idiom); sth is wrong, but not quite sure what
fig. not getting to any matter of substance
scratching the surface
superficial
perfunctory

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
痛: tòng · pain, ache; sorry, sad; bitter
癢: Look up this written character
痒: yǎng · itch

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–3 · bu4 tong4 bu4 yang3

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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.

不痛不癢 · find source passages ↗ · 不痛不痒 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) not getting to the substance of the matter; perfunctory; superficial
(idiomatic) hesitant and equivocal in attitude (when dealing with a matter)

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

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