DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

不過爾爾

简不过尔尔 · 繁不過爾爾

Mandarin · pinyin bù guò ěr ěr

not more than so-so (idiom); mediocre
nothing out of the ordinary

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
過: guò · pass, pass through, go across
爾: Look up this written character
过: guò · pass, pass through, go across
尔: ěr · you; that, those; final particle

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–4–3–3 · bu4 guo4 er3 er3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

不過爾爾 · find source passages ↗ · 不过尔尔 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) just so-so; mediocre; just middling

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack