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面不改色

Mandarin · pinyin miàn bù gǎi sè

(idiom) not bat an eyelid

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Characters in this entry

面: miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
改: gǎi · change, alter; improve, remodel
色: sè · color, tint, hue, shade; form, body; beauty, desire for beauty; Kangxi radical 139

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–3–4 · mian4 bu4 gai3 se4

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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 · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

min6 bat1 goi2 sik1

Cantonese word readings for 面不改色. 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) one's facial expression remains unchanged; to remain calm; without batting an eyelid

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

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