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只說不做

简只说不做 · 繁只說不做

Mandarin · pinyin zhǐ shuō bù zuò

to be all talk and no action

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Characters in this entry

只: zhǐ · only, just, simply
說: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
做: zuò · work, make; act
说: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–4–4 · zhi3 shuo1 bu4 zuo4

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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.

只說不做 · find source passages ↗ · 只说不做 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) all talk and no action

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

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