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言不盡意

简言不尽意 · 繁言不盡意

Mandarin · pinyin yán bù jìn yì

(conventional letter ending) words cannot fully express what is in my heart (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
盡: Look up this written character
意: yì · thought, idea, opinion; think
尽: jǐn · exhaust, use up; deplete

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–4 · yan2 bu4 jin4 yi4

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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.

言不盡意 · find source passages ↗ · 言不尽意 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jin4 bat1 zeon6 ji3

Cantonese word readings for 言不盡意. 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) what one says does not sufficiently express what one means

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

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