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Chinese/Dictionary entry

畏缩不前

wèi suō bù qiándictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to shrink back in fear (idiom) / too cowardly to advance
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-211c1d7c4ead927d. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

畏縮不前 畏缩不前 [wei4 suo1 bu4 qian2] /to shrink back in fear (idiom); too cowardly to advance/

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: 畏縮不前

  • 畏
    wèi

    to fear

  • 缩
    suō

    to withdraw / to pull back / to contract / to shrink / to reduce / abbreviation / also pr. [sù]

  • 不
    bù

    no / not so / (bound form) not / un-

  • 前
    qián

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

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.