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幫倒忙

简帮倒忙 · 繁幫倒忙

Mandarin · pinyin bāng dào máng

to be more of a hindrance than a help

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Characters in this entry

幫: bāng · to help, assist; to defend; shoe upper
倒: dào · fall over; lie down; take turns
忙: máng · busy, pressed for time; hustling
帮: bāng · help, assist; defend; shoe upper

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–2 · bang1 dao4 mang2

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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.

幫倒忙 · find source passages ↗ · 帮倒忙 · 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

(idiomatic) to be more of a hindrance than a help

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

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