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聽而不聞

简听而不闻 · 繁聽而不聞

Mandarin · pinyin tīng ér bù wén

to hear but not react (idiom); to turn a deaf ear
to ignore deliberately

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Characters in this entry

聽: tīng · hear, listen; understand; obey
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
聞: Look up this written character
听: tīng · hear; understand; obey, comply
闻: wén · hear; smell; make known; news

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–2 · ting1 er2 bu4 wen2

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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.

聽而不聞 · find source passages ↗ · 听而不闻 · 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) to hear but not pay attention or care; to turn a deaf ear; to be indifferent

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

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