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得不償失

简得不偿失 · 繁得不償失

Mandarin · pinyin dé bù cháng shī

the gains do not make up for the losses (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
償: Look up this written character
失: shī · lose; make mistake, neglect
偿: cháng · repay, recompense; restitution

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–2–1 · de2 bu4 chang2 shi1

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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.

得不償失 · find source passages ↗ · 得不偿失 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dak1 bat1 soeng4 sat1

Cantonese word readings for 得不償失. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) the loss outweighs the gain; to do more harm than good

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

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