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好漢不吃眼前虧

简好汉不吃眼前亏 · 繁好漢不吃眼前虧

Mandarin · pinyin hǎo hàn bù chī yǎn qián kuī

a wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

好: hǎo · good, excellent, fine; well
漢: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
眼: yǎn · eye; eyelet, hole, opening
前: qián · in front, forward; preceding
虧: Look up this written character
汉: hàn · Chinese people; Chinese language
亏: kuī · lose, fail; damage; deficient

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–4–1–3–2–1 · hao3 han4 bu4 chi1 yan3 qian2 kui1

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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.

好漢不吃眼前虧 · find source passages ↗ · 好汉不吃眼前亏 · 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.

proverb

A wise man does not fight when the odds are against him; A wise man knows when to retreat.

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

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