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非親非故

简非亲非故 · 繁非親非故

Mandarin · pinyin fēi qīn fēi gù

lit. neither a relative nor a friend (idiom)
fig. unrelated to one another in any way

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Characters in this entry

非: fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175
親: qīn · relatives, parents; intimate
故: gù · ancient, old; reason, because
亲: qīn · relatives, parents; intimate the hazel nut or filbert tree a thorny tree

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–1–4 · fei1 qin1 fei1 gu4

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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.

非親非故 · find source passages ↗ · 非亲非故 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fei1 can1 fei1 gu3

Cantonese word readings for 非親非故. 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

(of two people) to be neither relatives nor friends

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

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