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犯得上

Mandarin · pinyin fàn de shàng

worthwhile (often in rhetorical questions, implying not worthwhile)

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Characters in this entry

犯: fàn · commit crime, violate; criminal
得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up

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Mandarin tones

4–5–4 · fan4 de5 shang4

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faan6 dak1 soeng5

Cantonese word readings for 犯得上. 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.

verb

(chiefly used in rhetorical questions) to be worthwile

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

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