DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

嚴懲不貸

简严惩不贷 · 繁嚴懲不貸

Mandarin · pinyin yán chéng bù dài

to punish severely (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

嚴: Look up this written character
懲: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
貸: Look up this written character
严: yán · strict, rigorous, rigid; stern
惩: chéng · punish, reprimand; warn
贷: dài · lend; borrow; pardon

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4 · yan2 cheng2 bu4 dai4

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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.

嚴懲不貸 · find source passages ↗ · 严惩不贷 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jim4 cing4 bat1 taai3

Cantonese word readings for 嚴懲不貸. 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) to punish severely without mercy; to punish mercilessly

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

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