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纠缠不清

jiū chán bù qīngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
hopelessly muddled / impossible to unravel
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-621dfa01af2c1d89. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

糾纏不清 纠缠不清 [jiu1 chan2 bu4 qing1] /hopelessly muddled/impossible to unravel/

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: 糾纏不清

  • 纠
    jiū

    to gather together / to investigate / to entangle / to correct

  • 缠
    chán

    to wind around / to wrap round / to coil / tangle / to involve / to bother / to annoy

  • 不
    bù

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

  • 清
    qīng

    (of water etc) clear / clean / quiet / still / pure / uncorrupted / clear / distinct / to clear / to settle (accounts)

    Qīng

    Qing (Wade-Giles: Ch'ing) dynasty of China (1644–1911) / surname Qing

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.