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男儿有泪不轻弹

nán ér yǒu lèi bù qīng tándictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
real men do not easily cry (idiom)
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-ba45205890a27630. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

男兒有淚不輕彈 男儿有泪不轻弹 [nan2 er2 you3 lei4 bu4 qing1 tan2] /real men do not easily cry (idiom)/

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: 男兒有淚不輕彈

  • 男
    nán

    (bound form) male / baron, the lowest of the five ranks of nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi]

  • 儿
    ér

    child / son

    r

    non-syllabic diminutive suffix / retroflex final

  • 有
    yǒu

    to have / there is / (bound form) having / with / -ful / -ed / -al (as in 有意[yǒu yì] intentional)

  • 泪
    lèi

    (bound form) tears / teardrops

  • 不
    bù

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

  • 轻
    qīng

    light / easy / gentle / soft / reckless / unimportant / frivolous / small in number / unstressed / neutral / to disparage

  • 弹
    dàn

    crossball / bullet / shot / shell / ball

    tán

    to pluck (a string) / to play (a string instrument) / to spring or leap / to shoot (e.g. with a catapult) / (of cotton) to fluff or tease / to flick / to flip / to accuse / to impeach / elastic (of materials)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.