DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

長痛不如短痛

简长痛不如短痛 · 繁長痛不如短痛

Mandarin · pinyin cháng tòng bù rú duǎn tòng

better to just get the pain over with, rather than prolong the agony

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

長: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
痛: tòng · pain, ache; sorry, sad; bitter
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
如: rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as
短: duǎn · short; brief; deficient, lacking
长: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–4–4–2–3–4 · chang2 tong4 bu4 ru2 duan3 tong4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

6character 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.

長痛不如短痛 · find source passages ↗ · 长痛不如短痛 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

coeng2 tung3 bat1 jyu4 dyun2 tung3 · coeng4 tung3 bat1 jyu4 dyun2 tung3

Cantonese word readings for 長痛不如短痛. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

proverb

It is better to suffer short-term pain so that one will not have to suffer long-term pain; it is better to just get it over with, rather than prolong the agony.

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

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