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無病呻吟

简无病呻吟 · 繁無病呻吟

Mandarin · pinyin wú bìng shēn yín

(idiom) to moan and groan despite not being sick; to feign illness; to complain without cause; (of writing) to indulge in confected sentimentality

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Characters in this entry

無: Look up this written character
病: bìng · illness, sickness, disease
呻: shēn · groan, moan; recite with intonation
吟: yín · sing, hum; recite; type of poetry
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–1–2 · wu2 bing4 shen1 yin2

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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.

無病呻吟 · find source passages ↗ · 无病呻吟 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mou4 beng6 san1 jam4

Cantonese word readings for 無病呻吟. 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 make a fuss about imaginary worries; to pine and whine about nothing
(of literature and art) to adopt a sentimental pose

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

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