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死無對證

简死无对证 · 繁死無對證

Mandarin · pinyin sǐ wú duì zhèng

the dead cannot testify (idiom); dead men tell no tales

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Characters in this entry

死: sǐ · die; dead; death
無: Look up this written character
對: duì · correct, right; facing, opposed
證: Look up this written character
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
对: duì · correct, right; facing, opposed
证: zhèng · prove, confirm, verify; proof

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4–4 · si3 wu2 dui4 zheng4

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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.

死無對證 · find source passages ↗ · 死无对证 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

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 know the truth as the person who could testify has died; dead men tell no tales

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

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