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獨來獨往

简独来独往 · 繁獨來獨往

Mandarin · pinyin dú lái dú wǎng

(idiom) to come and go alone; to act independently; (fig.) to keep to oneself; to be a loner

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Characters in this entry

獨: Look up this written character
來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
往: wǎng · go, depart; past, formerly
独: dú · alone, single, solitary, only
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–3 · du2 lai2 du2 wang3

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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.

獨來獨往 · find source passages ↗ · 独来独往 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

duk6 loi4 duk6 wong5

Cantonese word readings for 獨來獨往. 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 a loner; to be alone and avoid the company of others

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

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