晚 节 不 保

wǎn jié bù bǎodictionary entry

(idiom) to tarnish one's reputation in later life / to lose prestige at a later stage

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-aad6cd3a94333723. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

晚節不保 晚节不保 [wan3 jie2 bu4 bao3] /(idiom) to tarnish one's reputation in later life; to lose prestige at a later stage/

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: 晚節不保

晚
wǎn
evening / night / late
节
jiē
see 節骨眼|节骨眼[jiē gu yǎn]
jié
joint / node / (bound form) section / segment / solar term (one of the 24 divisions of the year in the traditional Chinese calendar) / seasonal festival / (bound form) to economize / to save / (bound form) moral integrity / chastity / classifier for segments: lessons, train wagons, biblical verses etc / knot (nautical miles per hour)
不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
保
bǎo
to defend / to protect / to keep / to guarantee / to ensure / (old) civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲[bǎo jiǎ] system
Bǎo
Bulgaria (abbr. for 保加利亞|保加利亚[Bǎo jiā lì yà])

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.