不 即 不 离

bù jí bù lídictionary entry

to be neither too familiar nor too distant / to keep sb at arm's length

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-325e717763c395e9. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

不即不離不即不离 [bu4 ji2 bu4 li2] /to be neither too familiar nor too distant/to keep sb at arm's length/

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: 不即不離

不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
即
jí
namely / that is / i.e. / prompt / at once / at present / even if / prompted (by the occasion) / to approach / to come into contact / to assume (office) / to draw near
不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
离
chī
mythical beast (archaic)
lí
to leave / to part from / to be away from / (in giving distances) from / without (sth) / independent of / one of the Eight Trigrams 八卦[bā guà], symbolizing fire / ☲
Lí
surname Li

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.