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桀驁不馴

简桀骜不驯 · 繁桀驁不馴

Mandarin · pinyin jié ào bù xùn

arrogant and obstinate (idiom)
unyielding

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Characters in this entry

桀: jié · chicken roost; ancient emperor
驁: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
馴: Look up this written character
骜: ào · wild horse, mustang; wild
驯: xùn · tame, docile, obedient

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–4 · jie2 ao4 bu4 xun4

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Connected dictionary

4character links1same-tone record

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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.

桀驁不馴 · find source passages ↗ · 桀骜不驯 · find source passages ↗

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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) wild; intractable; stubborn; obstinate and unruly

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

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