攀比

Mandarin · pinyin pān bǐ

Meanings

  1. to make invidious comparisons
  2. to compete with
  3. to emulate
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Characters in this entry

攀
pān · climb; pull; hang on to
比
bǐ · to compare, liken; comparison; than; hexagram ䷇
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–3 · pan1 bi3

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

  1. to unrealistically compare oneself with a much stronger counterpart; to compete (with each other socially); to try to keep up with the Joneses

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

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