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欲罷不能

简欲罢不能 · 繁欲罷不能

Mandarin · pinyin yù bà bù néng

want to stop but can't (idiom)
to be unable to stop oneself
to feel an urge to continue

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Characters in this entry

欲: yù · desire, want, long for; intend
罷: bà · cease, finish, stop; give up
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
能: néng · to be able; can, permitted to; ability
罢: bà · cease, finish, stop; give up

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–2 · yu4 ba4 bu4 neng2

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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.

欲罷不能 · find source passages ↗ · 欲罢不能 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

juk6 baa6 bat1 nang4

Cantonese word readings for 欲罷不能. 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 be unable to stop doing something despite wanting to

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

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