寧缺毋濫
nìng​quē​wú​làn

better to have nothing than something shoddy

  • created reference approved 宁缺毋滥/寧缺毋濫 → 宁缺勿滥/寧缺勿濫 (variant) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    宁缺毋滥 / 寧缺毋濫 nìng​quē​wú​làn

    宁缺勿滥 / 寧缺勿濫 nìng​quē​wù​làn

    variant

    Changed: source (simp), source (trad), source pinyin, target (simp), target (trad), target pinyin, type

    created reference

  • created sense approved 宁缺毋滥/寧缺毋濫 · nìng​quē​wú​làn · better to have nothing than something shoddy — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    宁缺毋滥 / 寧缺毋濫

    nìng​quē​wú​làn

    better to have nothing than something shoddy

    rather go without than accept something of poor quality; would prefer to have a vacancy or shortage than to fill it with something or someone substandard

    níng​quē​wú​làn

    宁 (literal) → 宁/寧 · nìng · would rather 缺 (literal) → 缺 · quē · to lack 毋 (literal) → 毋 · wú · do not 滥 (literal) → 滥/濫 · làn · excessive; indiscriminate

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense