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四不像

Mandarin · pinyin sì bù xiàng

common name for 麋鹿 mí lù, Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus), which is said to resemble an amalgam of animals such as a cow, deer, donkey and horse
an odd mixture of disparate elements
hodgepodge
farrago

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Characters in this entry

四: sì · four
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
像: xiàng · a picture, image, figure; to resemble

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4 · si4 bu4 xiang4

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 5 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(informal) Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus)
(Northeastern Mandarin) moose (Alces alces)
(Northeastern Mandarin) reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)
(Southern China) serow (Capricornis sumatraensis)
something that resembles many other things partly, but none of them as a whole; mixture; neither fish nor fowl

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

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