DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

腳踏實地

简脚踏实地 · 繁腳踏實地

Mandarin · pinyin jiǎo tà shí dì

to have one's feet firmly planted on the ground (idiom); realistic without flights of fancy
steady and serious character

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Characters in this entry

腳: jiǎo · foot; base, leg, foundation
踏: tà · step on, trample, tread on, walk
實: shí · real, true, solid, honest
地: de · dì · earth; soil, ground; region
脚: jiǎo · leg, foot; base, leg, foundation
实: shí · real, true; honest, sincere

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–2–4 · jiao3 ta4 shi2 di4

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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.

腳踏實地 · find source passages ↗ · 脚踏实地 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

goek3 daap6 sat6 dei6

Cantonese word readings for 腳踏實地. 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 have one's feet on the ground; to be realistic and steady

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

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