DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

禽獸不如

简禽兽不如 · 繁禽獸不如

Mandarin · pinyin qín shòu bù rú

worse than a beast
to behave immorally

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

禽: qín · birds, fowl; surname; capture
獸: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
如: rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as
兽: shòu · beast, animal; bestial

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–4–4–2 · qin2 shou4 bu4 ru2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

禽獸不如 · find source passages ↗ · 禽兽不如 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) worse than a beast

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack