DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

不顯山不露水

简不显山不露水 · 繁不顯山不露水

Mandarin · pinyin bù xiǎn shān bù lù shuǐ

lit. to not show the mountain and to not reveal the water (idiom); fig. to hide the key facts

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
顯: Look up this written character
山: shān · mountain, hill, peak
露: lù · dew; bare, open, exposed
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
显: xiǎn · manifest, display; evident, clear

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–3–1–4–4–3 · bu4 xian3 shan1 bu4 lu4 shui3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character 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.

不顯山不露水 · find source passages ↗ · 不显山不露水 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗