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邊緣人

简边缘人 · 繁邊緣人

Mandarin · pinyin biān yuán rén

marginalized people (not part of mainstream society)
marginal man (term coined by social psychologist Kurt Lewin, referring to a person in transition between two cultures or social groups, not fully belonging to either)

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Characters in this entry

邊: Look up this written character
緣: Look up this written character
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
边: biān · edge, margin, side, border
缘: yuán · hem, margin; reason, cause; fate

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–2 · bian1 yuan2 ren2

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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 · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(sociology) marginal man; marginal man theory
(Taiwan, Internet slang) person who lacks friends; loner; outsider; outcast

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

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