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前途未卜

qián tú wèi bǔdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
hanging in the balance / the future is hard to forecast / ¿Qué serà? / who knows what the future holds?
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-16804186a81df28f. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

前途未卜 前途未卜 [qian2 tu2 wei4 bu3] /hanging in the balance/the future is hard to forecast/¿Qué serà?/who knows what the future holds?/

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.

  • 前
    qián

    front / forward / ahead / first / top (followed by a number) / future / ago / before / BC (e.g. 前293年) / former / formerly

  • 途
    tú

    way / route / road

  • 未
    wèi

    not yet / did not / have not / not / 8th earthly branch: 1-3 p.m., 6th solar month (7th July-6th August), year of the Sheep / ancient Chinese compass point: 210°

  • 卜
    bǔ

    (bound form) to divine

    bó

    used in 蘿蔔|萝卜[luó bo]

    Bǔ

    surname Bu

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.