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玩物喪志

简玩物丧志 · 繁玩物喪志

Mandarin · pinyin wán wù sàng zhì

lit. trifling destroys the will (idiom); infatuation with fine details prevents one making progress
excessive attention to trivia saps the will

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Characters in this entry

玩: wán · play with, joke, enjoy
物: wù · thing, substance, creature
喪: Look up this written character
志: zhì · purpose, will, determination; annals
丧: sàng · mourning; mourn; funeral

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–4 · wan2 wu4 sang4 zhi4

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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.

玩物喪志 · find source passages ↗ · 玩物丧志 · 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) to indulge in what one likes and lose one's sense of purpose; infatuation saps the will

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

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