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口說無憑

简口说无凭 · 繁口說無憑

Mandarin · pinyin kǒu shuō wú píng

(idiom) you can't rely on a verbal agreement; just because sb says sth, doesn't mean it's true

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Characters in this entry

口: kǒu · mouth; open end; entrance, gate
說: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
無: Look up this written character
憑: Look up this written character
说: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
凭: píng · lean on, depend on, rely on

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–2–2 · kou3 shuo1 wu2 ping2

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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.

口說無憑 · find source passages ↗ · 口说无凭 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hau2 syut3 mou4 pang4

Cantonese word readings for 口說無憑. 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

(idiomatic) verbal statements are no guarantee

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

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