DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

何樂不為

简何乐不为 · 繁何樂不為

Mandarin · pinyin hé lè bù wéi

(idiom) what is there against it? (rhetorical question indicating an eagerness or willingness to do sth)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

何: hé · what, why, where, which, how
樂: lè · happy, glad; enjoyable; music
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
為: Look up this written character
乐: lè · happy, glad; enjoyable; music
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–4–4–2 · he2 le4 bu4 wei2

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.

何樂不為 · find source passages ↗ · 何乐不为 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

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

(rhetorical) why not do it?; what is there against it?

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

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