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急不可待

Mandarin · pinyin jí bù kě dài

(idiom) impatient; eager to (do sth); unable to wait any longer

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Characters in this entry

急: jí · quick, quickly; urgent, pressing
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
可: kě · may, can, -able; possibly
待: dài · treat, entertain, receive; wait

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–3–4 · ji2 bu4 ke3 dai4

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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.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gap1 bat1 ho2 doi6

Cantonese word readings for 急不可待. 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) to be too impatient to wait

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

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