偏偏

Mandarin · pinyin piān piān

Meanings

  1. (indicating that sth turns out just the opposite of what one would wish) unfortunately; as it happened
  2. (indicating that sth is the opposite of what would be normal or reasonable) stubbornly; contrarily; against reason
  3. (indicating that sb or a group is singled out) precisely; only; of all people
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Characters in this entry

偏
piān · inclined one side; slanting
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · pian1 pian1

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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 · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

pin1 pin1

Cantonese word readings for 偏偏. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

adv

  1. wilfully; insistently; persistently
  2. contrary to expectation: but; unfortunately
  3. indicates a limited scope: only; just

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

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

偏偏 · pian1 pian1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 9,078
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record偏偏 偏偏 [pian1 pian1] /(indicating that sth turns out just the opposite of what one would wish) unfortunately; as it happened/(indicating that sth is the opposite of what would be normal or reasonable) stubbornly; contrarily; against reason/(indicating that sb or a group is singled out) precisely; only; of all people/