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置身事外

Mandarin · pinyin zhì shēn shì wài

(idiom) not to get involved; to stay out of it

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Characters in this entry

置: zhì · place, lay out; set aside
身: shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158
事: shì · affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
外: wài · out, outside, external; foreign

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–4 · zhi4 shen1 shi4 wai4

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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

zi3 san1 si6 ngoi6

Cantonese word readings for 置身事外. 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 stand back; to not care and be indifferent about a matter

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

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