女子無才便是德
简 女子无才便是德 · 繁 女子無才便是德Meanings
- a woman's virtue is to have no talent (idiom)
Characters in this entry
- 女
- nǚ · woman, girl; feminine; Kangxi radical 38; 10th lunar mansion, determinative star ε Aquarii (Albali)
- 子
- zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
- 無
- Look up this written character
- 才
- cái · talent, ability; just, only
- 便
- biàn · convenience, ease; expedient
- 是
- shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
- 德
- dé · ethics, morality, virtue
- 无
- wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
3–3–2–2–4–4–2 · nu:3 zi3 wu2 cai2 bian4 shi4 de2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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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.
女子無才便是德 · find source passages ↗ · 女子无才便是德 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
neoi5 zi2 mou4 coi4 bin6 si6 dak1
Cantonese word readings for 女子無才便是德. 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.
proverb
- A woman who lacks talent is virtuous; An old fashioned saying meaning that women should stay at home.
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack