DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

懦

Mandarin · pinyin nuò

(bound form) cowardly; faint-hearted

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

懦: nuò · weak, timid, cowardly

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4 · nuo4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

1character link14same-tone records

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

懦 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

no6

Cantonese word readings for 懦. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

character

(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) cowardly; weak
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) soft
(Hokkien) sluggish; slow; spiritless; listless; timid; lazy; taking things too easy; letting things take their course

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack