口無擇言

简 口无择言 · 繁 口無擇言
Mandarin · pinyin kǒu wú zé yán

Meanings

  1. to say not a word that is not appropriate (idiom)
  2. wrongly used for 口不擇言 kǒu bù zé yán
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Characters in this entry

口
kǒu · mouth; open end; entrance, gate
無
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擇
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言
yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
无
wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
择
zé · select, choose, pick out
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–2–2–2 · kou3 wu2 ze2 yan2

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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.

口無擇言 · find source passages ↗ · 口无择言 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hau2 mou4 zaak6 jin4

Cantonese word readings for 口無擇言. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

口無擇言 · kou3 wu2 ze2 yan2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 18,797
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record口無擇言 口无择言 [kou3 wu2 ze2 yan2] /to say not a word that is not appropriate (idiom)/wrongly used for 口不擇言|口不择言[kou3 bu4 ze2 yan2]/