DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

是非莫辨

Mandarin · pinyin shì fēi mò biàn

unable to distinguish right and wrong (idiom)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
非: fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175
莫: mò · do not, is not, can not; negative
辨: biàn · distinguish, discriminate

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–1–4–4 · shi4 fei1 mo4 bian4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character 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.

是非莫辨 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗