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了不起

Mandarin · pinyin liǎo bu qǐ

amazing
terrific
extraordinary

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Characters in this entry

了: le · to finish; particle of completed action
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
起: qǐ · rise, stand up; go up; begin

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

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Mandarin tones

3–5–3 · liao3 bu5 qi3

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

liu5 bat1 hei2

Cantonese word readings for 了不起. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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.

adj

(colloquial) amazing; terrific; extraordinary

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

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