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飄忽不定

简飘忽不定 · 繁飄忽不定

Mandarin · pinyin piāo hū bù dìng

to drift without a resting place (idiom)
roving
errant
vagrant
erratic

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Characters in this entry

飄: Look up this written character
忽: hū · suddenly, abruptly; neglect
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
定: dìng · decide, settle, fix
飘: piāo · whirlwind, cyclone; floating

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · piao1 hu1 bu4 ding4

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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.

飄忽不定 · find source passages ↗ · 飘忽不定 · find source passages ↗

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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) to be unsteady in motion; to drift from place to place; to be erratic

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

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