必 不 可 少

bì bù kě shǎodictionary entry

absolutely necessary / indispensable / essential

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-8382d6a93d4f3e45. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

必不可少必不可少 [bi4 bu4 ke3 shao3] /absolutely necessary/indispensable/essential/

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.

必
bì
must; necessarily; certainly / (literary) if
不
bù
no; not so / (bound form) not; un-
可
kě
(prefix) can; may; able to; -able / to approve; to permit / to suit / (particle used for emphasis) certainly; very / but; however
kè
used in 可汗[kè hán]
少
shǎo
few / less / to lack / to be missing / to stop (doing sth) / seldom
shào
young

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.