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笨嘴拙舌

Mandarin · pinyin bèn zuǐ zhuō shé

clumsy in speech
poor speaker

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Characters in this entry

笨: bèn · foolish, stupid, dull; awkward
嘴: zuǐ · mouth, lips
拙: zhuō · stupid, clumsy, crude; convention
舌: shé · tongue; clapper of bell; Kangxi radical 135

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–2 · ben4 zui3 zhuo1 she2

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ban6 zeoi2 zyut3 sit3

Cantonese word readings for 笨嘴拙舌. 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) synonym of 笨口拙舌 (bènkǒuzhuōshé, “awkward in speech; inarticulate”)

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

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