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不著邊際

简不着边际 · 繁不著邊際

Mandarin · pinyin bù zhuó biān jì

not to the point
wide of the mark
neither here nor there
irrelevant

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
著: zhù · zhe · manifest; (Cant.) to wear
邊: Look up this written character
際: Look up this written character
着: zhe · make move, take action
边: biān · edge, margin, side, border
际: jì · border, boundary, juncture

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–1–4 · bu4 zhuo2 bian1 ji4

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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.

不著邊際 · find source passages ↗ · 不着边际 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) not to the point; wide of the mark; irrelevant; neither here nor there

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

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