一 本 正 经

yī běn zhèng jīngdictionary entry

(idiom) in deadly earnest / deadpan

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-036d6f63db7832c2. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

一本正經一本正经 [yi1 ben3 zheng4 jing1] /(idiom) in deadly earnest; deadpan/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 一本正經

一
yī
one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
本
běn
(bound form) root / stem / (bound form) origin / source / (bound form) one's own / this / (bound form) this / the current (year etc) / (bound form) original / (bound form) inherent / originally / initially / capital / principal / classifier for books, periodicals, files etc
正
zhēng
first month of the lunar year
zhèng
straight / upright / proper / main / principal / to correct / to rectify / exactly / just (at that time) / right (in that place) / (math.) positive
经
jīng
classics / sacred book / scripture / to pass through / to undergo / to bear / to endure / warp (textile) / longitude / menstruation / channel (TCM) / abbr. for economics 經濟|经济[jīng jì]
Jīng
surname Jing

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.