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裹足不前

Mandarin · pinyin guǒ zú bù qián

to stand still without advancing (idiom); to hesitate and hold back

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Characters in this entry

裹: guǒ · wrap, bind; encircle, confine
足: zú · foot; attain, satisfy, enough; Kangxi radical 156
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
前: qián · in front, forward; preceding

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4–2 · guo3 zu2 bu4 qian2

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwo2 zuk1 bat1 cin4

Cantonese word readings for 裹足不前. 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 hesitate to proceed

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

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