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意想不到

Mandarin · pinyin yì xiǎng bù dào

unexpected
previously unimagined

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Characters in this entry

意: yì · thought, idea, opinion; think
想: xiǎng · think, speculate, plan, consider
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
到: dào · go to, arrive, been to

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–4 · yi4 xiang3 bu4 dao4

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji3 soeng2 bat1 dou3

Cantonese word readings for 意想不到. 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 unexpected; to be unanticipated; to be unimaginable

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

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