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對不住

简对不住 · 繁對不住

Mandarin · pinyin duì bu zhù

to let sb down
to be unfair
I'm sorry
pardon me (formal)

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Characters in this entry

對: duì · correct, right; facing, opposed
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
住: zhù · reside, live at, dwell, lodge; stop
对: duì · correct, right; facing, opposed

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

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Mandarin tones

4–5–4 · dui4 bu5 zhu4

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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.

對不住 · find source passages ↗ · 对不住 · 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.

verb

to be unfair to; to let someone down

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

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