DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

責無旁貸

简责无旁贷 · 繁責無旁貸

Mandarin · pinyin zé wú páng dài

to be duty bound
to be one's unshirkable responsibility

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Characters in this entry

責: Look up this written character
無: Look up this written character
旁: páng · side; by side, close by, near
貸: Look up this written character
责: zé · one's responsibility, duty
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
贷: dài · lend; borrow; pardon

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–4 · ze2 wu2 pang2 dai4

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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.

責無旁貸 · find source passages ↗ · 责无旁贷 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zaak3 mou4 pong4 taai3

Cantonese word readings for 責無旁貸. 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 bear an unshirkable responsibility

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

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