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非驢非馬

简非驴非马 · 繁非驢非馬

Mandarin · pinyin fēi lǘ fēi mǎ

neither fish nor fowl
resembling nothing on earth

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Characters in this entry

非: fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175
驢: Look up this written character
馬: Look up this written character
驴: lǘ · donkey, ass
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–3 · fei1 lu:2 fei1 ma3

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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.

非驢非馬 · find source passages ↗ · 非驴非马 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fei1 leoi4 fei1 maa5

Cantonese word readings for 非驢非馬. 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) neither fish nor fowl

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

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