DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

多一事不如少一事

Mandarin · pinyin duō yī shì bù rú shǎo yī shì

it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble (idiom)
the less complications the better

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Characters in this entry

多: duō · much, many; more than, over
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
事: shì · affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
如: rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as
少: shǎo · few, less, inadequate

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4–2–3–1–4 · duo1 yi1 shi4 bu4 ru2 shao3 yi1 shi4

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

do1 jat1 si6 bat1 jyu4 siu2 jat1 si6

Cantonese word readings for 多一事不如少一事. 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) "the less trouble the better"; to let something slide and avoid trouble

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

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