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驕兵必敗

简骄兵必败 · 繁驕兵必敗

Mandarin · pinyin jiāo bīng bì bài

lit. an arrogant army is bound to lose (idiom)
fig. pride goes before a fall

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Characters in this entry

驕: Look up this written character
兵: bīng · soldier, troops
必: bì · surely, most certainly; must
敗: Look up this written character
骄: jiāo · spirited horse; haughty
败: bài · be defeated, decline, fail

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · jiao1 bing1 bi4 bai4

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驕兵必敗 · find source passages ↗ · 骄兵必败 · 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) the conceited army which underestimates its opponent is bound to lose

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

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