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大而無當

简大而无当 · 繁大而無當

Mandarin · pinyin dà ér wú dàng

grandiose but impractical (idiom)
large but of no real use

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Characters in this entry

大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
無: Look up this written character
當: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
当: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–2–4 · da4 er2 wu2 dang4

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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.

大而無當 · find source passages ↗ · 大而无当 · find source passages ↗

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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) large but impractical; unwieldy

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

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