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得來不易

简得来不易 · 繁得來不易

Mandarin · pinyin dé lái bù yì

hard to come by; not easily obtained; hard-won

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Characters in this entry

得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
易: yì · change; easy
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4 · de2 lai2 bu4 yi4

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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.

得來不易 · find source passages ↗ · 得来不易 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dak1 loi4 bat1 ji6

Cantonese word readings for 得來不易. 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) hard-earned; to have been obtained with a great deal of effort

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

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