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無所作為

简无所作为 · 繁無所作為

Mandarin · pinyin wú suǒ zuò wéi

attempting nothing and accomplishing nothing (idiom); without any initiative or drive
feckless

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Characters in this entry

無: Look up this written character
所: suǒ · place, location; numerary adjunct
作: zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
為: Look up this written character
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

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Mandarin tones

2–3–4–2 · wu2 suo3 zuo4 wei2

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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.

無所作為 · find source passages ↗ · 无所作为 · 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) to attempt nothing and accomplish nothing; to be in a state of inertia

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

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