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冷不防

Mandarin · pinyin lěng bu fáng

unexpectedly
suddenly
at unawares
off guard
against expectations

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Characters in this entry

冷: lěng · cold, cool; lonely
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
防: fáng · defend; prevent; embankment

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

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Mandarin tones

3–5–2 · leng3 bu5 fang2

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

laang5 bat1 fong4

Cantonese word readings for 冷不防. 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.

adv

unexpectedly; suddenly

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

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