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不落窠臼

Mandarin · pinyin bù luò kē jiù

not follow the beaten track
have an original style

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
落: luò · fall, drop; net income, surplus
窠: kē · nest; hole, indention; den
臼: jiù · mortar; bone joint socket; Kangzi radical 134

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–4 · bu4 luo4 ke1 jiu4

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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.

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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 have an original style; to be unconventional; to be original

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

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