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有始無終

简有始无终 · 繁有始無終

Mandarin · pinyin yǒu shǐ wú zhōng

to start but not finish (idiom); to fail to carry things through
lack of sticking power
short attention span

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Characters in this entry

有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
始: shǐ · begin, start; then, only then
無: Look up this written character
終: Look up this written character
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
终: zhōng · end; finally, in the end

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2–1 · you3 shi3 wu2 zhong1

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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.

有始無終 · find source passages ↗ · 有始无终 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jau5 ci2 mou4 zung1

Cantonese word readings for 有始無終. 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

(idiomatic) to have a beginning but not an end
(idiomatic) to start something but fail to carry it through; to begin well but end badly

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

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