DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

貨比三家不吃虧

简货比三家不吃亏 · 繁貨比三家不吃虧

Mandarin · pinyin huò bǐ sān jiā bù chī kuī

shop around first and you won't get ripped off (idiom)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

貨: Look up this written character
比: bǐ · to compare, liken; comparison; than; hexagram ䷇
三: sān · three
家: jiā · house, home, residence; family
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
虧: Look up this written character
货: huò · goods, commodities, products
亏: kuī · lose, fail; damage; deficient

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–3–1–1–4–1–1 · huo4 bi3 san1 jia1 bu4 chi1 kui1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

7character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

貨比三家不吃虧 · find source passages ↗ · 货比三家不吃亏 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

proverb

if you compare the price of something at three different locations, you'll never be ripped off

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack