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平白無故

简平白无故 · 繁平白無故

Mandarin · pinyin píng bái wú gù

(idiom) for no reason whatever; inexplicably

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Characters in this entry

平: píng · flat, level, even; peaceful
白: bái · white; pure, unblemished; bright
無: Look up this written character
故: gù · ancient, old; reason, because
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–4 · ping2 bai2 wu2 gu4

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4character links1same-tone record

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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.

平白無故 · find source passages ↗ · 平白无故 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) without any cause or reason; groundless

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

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