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有志之士

Mandarin · pinyin yǒu zhì zhī shì

(idiom) person committed to a noble cause or ideal

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Characters in this entry

有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
志: zhì · purpose, will, determination; annals
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
士: shì · scholar, gentleman; soldier

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–4 · you3 zhi4 zhi1 shi4

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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.

phrase

(idiomatic) person of noble aspirations; person with lofty ideas

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

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