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劣幣驅逐良幣

简劣币驱逐良币 · 繁劣幣驅逐良幣

Mandarin · pinyin liè bì qū zhú liáng bì

bad money drives out good money (economics)

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Characters in this entry

劣: liè · bad, inferior; slightly
幣: Look up this written character
驅: Look up this written character
逐: zhú · chase, expel; one by one
良: liáng · good, virtuous, respectable
币: bì · currency, coins, legal tender
驱: qū · spur a horse on; expel, drive away

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–2–2–4 · lie4 bi4 qu1 zhu2 liang2 bi4

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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.

劣幣驅逐良幣 · find source passages ↗ · 劣币驱逐良币 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lyut3 bai6 keoi1 zuk6 loeng4 bai6

Cantonese word readings for 劣幣驅逐良幣. 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.

proverb

bad money drives out good (Gresham's law)
(by extension) things of inferior quality will drive out things of superior quality

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

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