大有可為

简 大有可为 · 繁 大有可為
Mandarin · pinyin dà yǒu kě wéi

Meanings

  1. with great prospects for the future (idiom); well worth doing
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Characters in this entry

大
dà · big, great, vast, large, high
有
yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
可
kě · may, can, -able; possibly
為
Look up this written character
为
wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–3–3–2 · da4 you3 ke3 wei2

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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.

大有可為 · find source passages ↗ · 大有可为 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) to be well worth doing; to have great prospects

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

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