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碌碌無為

简碌碌无为 · 繁碌碌無為

Mandarin · pinyin lù lù wú wéi

unaccomplished
mediocre
feckless

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Characters in this entry

碌: lù · rough, uneven, rocky; mediocre
無: Look up this written character
為: Look up this written character
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · lu4 lu4 wu2 wei2

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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.

碌碌無為 · find source passages ↗ · 碌碌无为 · 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) seemingly always on the run, but actually achieving nothing; to lead a busy, but vain and humdrum life; plodding hard but accomplishing little of significance

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

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