食 之 无 味，弃 之 可 惜

shí zhī wú wèi , qì zhī kě xīdictionary entry

lit. to be hardly worth eating, but it would still be a pity to discard it (idiom) / fig. some things have little to no value, yet one is still reluctant to part with them

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-9b697bf2b4ff5984. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

食之無味，棄之可惜 食之无味，弃之可惜 [shi2 zhi1 wu2 wei4 , qi4 zhi1 ke3 xi1] /lit. to be hardly worth eating, but it would still be a pity to discard it (idiom)/fig. some things have little to no value, yet one is still reluctant to part with them/

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Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

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Other forms in these source records: 食之無味，棄之可惜

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.