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無言以對

简无言以对 · 繁無言以對

Mandarin · pinyin wú yán yǐ duì

to be left speechless
unable to respond

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Characters in this entry

無: Look up this written character
言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
對: duì · correct, right; facing, opposed
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
对: duì · correct, right; facing, opposed

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–3–4 · wu2 yan2 yi3 dui4

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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.

無言以對 · find source passages ↗ · 无言以对 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mou4 jin4 ji5 deoi3

Cantonese word readings for 無言以對. 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 be left speechless; to be unable to respond

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack