DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

敢作敢為

简敢作敢为 · 繁敢作敢為

Mandarin · pinyin gǎn zuò gǎn wéi

(idiom) to stop at nothing; to dare to do anything

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

敢: gǎn · to dare, venture; bold, brave
作: zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
為: Look up this written character
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–4–3–2 · gan3 zuo4 gan3 wei2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links

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.

敢作敢為 · find source passages ↗ · 敢作敢为 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to act with courage and resolution; to dare to act

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

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