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荒誕不經

简荒诞不经 · 繁荒誕不經

Mandarin · pinyin huāng dàn bù jīng

absurd
preposterous
ridiculous

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Characters in this entry

荒: huāng · wasteland, desert; uncultivated
誕: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
經: Look up this written character
诞: dàn · bear children, give birth; birth
经: jīng · classic works; pass through

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–4–1 · huang1 dan4 bu4 jing1

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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.

荒誕不經 · find source passages ↗ · 荒诞不经 · 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) ridiculous; absurd; illogical; nonsensical

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

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