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窮兵黷武

简穷兵黩武 · 繁窮兵黷武

Mandarin · pinyin qióng bīng dú wǔ

to engage in wars of aggression at will (idiom)
militaristic
bellicose

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Characters in this entry

窮: Look up this written character
兵: bīng · soldier, troops
黷: Look up this written character
武: wǔ · military; martial, warlike
穷: qióng · poor, destitute, impoverished
黩: dú · to dishonor, defile, corrupt; soiled

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–2–3 · qiong2 bing1 du2 wu3

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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.

窮兵黷武 · find source passages ↗ · 穷兵黩武 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

kung4 bing1 duk6 mou5

Cantonese word readings for 窮兵黷武. 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 start wars and use military might rashly and excessively

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

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