灰不溜秋

Mandarin · pinyin huī bu liū qiū

Meanings

  1. see 灰不溜丟 huī bu liū diū
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

灰
huī · ashes; dust; lime, mortar
不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
溜
liū · slide, glide, slip; slippery
秋
qiū · autumn, fall; year
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–5–1–1 · hui1 bu5 liu1 qiu1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links1source reference
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

灰不溜秋 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗