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莫逆之交

Mandarin · pinyin mò nì zhī jiāo

intimate friendship
bosom buddies

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Characters in this entry

莫: mò · do not, is not, can not; negative
逆: nì · disobey, rebel; rebel, traitor
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
交: jiāo · mix; intersect; exchange, communicate; deliver

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–1 · mo4 ni4 zhi1 jiao1

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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

mok6 jik6 zi1 gaau1

Cantonese word readings for 莫逆之交. 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) very close friends (with complete mutual understanding)

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

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