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無能為力

简无能为力 · 繁無能為力

Mandarin · pinyin wú néng wéi lì

(idiom) powerless to do anything about it

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Characters in this entry

無: Look up this written character
能: néng · to be able; can, permitted to; ability
為: Look up this written character
力: lì · power, capability, influence; Kangxi radical 19
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

2–2–2–4 · wu2 neng2 wei2 li4

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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.

無能為力 · find source passages ↗ · 无能为力 · 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) powerless; helpless

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

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