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拖泥帶水

简拖泥带水 · 繁拖泥帶水

Mandarin · pinyin tuō ní dài shuǐ

(idiom) muddy and wet
(idiom) (of speech, writing etc) slovenly; sloppy; (of actions) indecisive

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Characters in this entry

拖: tuō · drag, tow, haul; delay, prolong
泥: ní · mud, mire; earth, clay; plaster
帶: Look up this written character
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
带: dài · belt, girdle, band, strap, zone

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · tuo1 ni2 dai4 shui3

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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.

拖泥帶水 · find source passages ↗ · 拖泥带水 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

to1 nai4 daai3 seoi2

Cantonese word readings for 拖泥帶水. 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

(derogatory) to do something in a long-drawn or slovenly manner; to be indecisive or beat about the bush

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

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