名不正言不順

简 名不正言不顺 · 繁 名不正言不順
Mandarin · pinyin míng bu zhèng yán bu shùn

Meanings

  1. (of a title, degree etc) illegitimately conferred
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Characters in this entry

名
míng · name, rank, title, position
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
正
zhèng · right, proper, correct
言
yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
順
Look up this written character
顺
shùn · obey, submit to, go along with
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–5–4–2–5–4 · ming2 bu5 zheng4 yan2 bu5 shun4

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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.

名不正言不順 · find source passages ↗ · 名不正言不顺 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ming4 bat1 zing3 jin4 bat1 seon6

Cantonese word readings for 名不正言不順. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

名不正言不順 · ming2 bu5 zheng4 yan2 bu5 shun4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 20,221
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record名不正言不順 名不正言不顺 [ming2 bu5 zheng4 yan2 bu5 shun4] /(of a title, degree etc) illegitimately conferred/