DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

為難

简为难 · 繁為難

Mandarin · pinyin wéi nán

to feel embarrassed or awkward
to make things difficult (for someone)
to find things difficult (to do or manage)

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Characters in this entry

為: Look up this written character
難: Look up this written character
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
难: nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2 · wei2 nan2

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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.

adj

(of a situation or person) in a difficult situation; awkward; embarrassing; uncomfortable

verb

to make things difficult or awkward for (someone)

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

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