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玩世不恭

Mandarin · pinyin wán shì bù gōng

to trifle without respect (idiom); to despise worldly conventions
frivolous

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Characters in this entry

玩: wán · play with, joke, enjoy
世: shì · generation; world; era
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
恭: gōng · respectful, polite, reverent

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–1 · wan2 shi4 bu4 gong1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wun6 sai3 bat1 gung1

Cantonese word readings for 玩世不恭. 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 despise worldly conventions; to be cynical; frivolous

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

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