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十惡不赦

简十恶不赦 · 繁十惡不赦

Mandarin · pinyin shí è bù shè

wicked beyond redemption (idiom)
heinous

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Characters in this entry

十: shí · ten, tenth; complete; perfect
惡: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
赦: shè · forgive, remit, pardon
恶: è · evil, wicked, bad, foul

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–4 · shi2 e4 bu4 she4

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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.

十惡不赦 · find source passages ↗ · 十恶不赦 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sap6 ok3 bat1 se3

Cantonese word readings for 十惡不赦. 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.

phrase

(historical) ten kinds of crimes that could not be pardoned
(idiomatic) to be evil to the extreme and beyond redemption; so evil that one cannot be forgiven or pardoned

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

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