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自愧弗如

Mandarin · pinyin zì kuì fú rú

to feel ashamed at being inferior (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
愧: kuì · ashamed, conscience-stricken
弗: fú · not, negative
如: rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · zi4 kui4 fu2 ru2

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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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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 自愧不如 (zìkuì-bùrú, “to be ashamed of not being as good as someone else”)

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

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