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坐臥不寧

简坐卧不宁 · 繁坐臥不寧

Mandarin · pinyin zuò wò bù níng

to be restless

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Characters in this entry

坐: zuò · sit; seat; ride, travel by
臥: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
寧: Look up this written character
卧: wò · lie down; crouch
宁: níng · calm, peaceful, serene; healthy

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–2 · zuo4 wo4 bu4 ning2

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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.

坐臥不寧 · find source passages ↗ · 坐卧不宁 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zo6 ngo6 bat1 ning4

Cantonese word readings for 坐臥不寧. 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 be unable to sit down or sleep at ease; to be restless

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

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