不伦不类 — “Neither fish nor fowl”
不伦不类 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Neither fish nor fowl”. Odd; incongruous; inappropriate; neither one thing nor another. Literally, “Neither one thing nor another”.
Frequency
不伦不类 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 不bù
- 伦lún
- 不bù
- 类lèi
不伦不类 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 不伦不类
他今天的穿着很不伦不类，看起来像要参加化妆舞会一样。
His outfit today was neither fish nor fowl, looking as if he was going to a costume party.
Origin and Story of 不伦不类
Xue Pan brought back two large chests of items from Jiangnan for Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai. Baochai then distributed the silks, satins, and foreign goods to everyone in the Jia family.
Aunt Zhao also received a share. To curry favor with Lady Wang, she went to Lady Wang's place to praise Baochai and disparage Lin Daiyu, but her words were utterly incongruous and out of place, earning her a cold stare from Lady Wang, who sent her away.
Idioms Related to 不伦不类
Antonyms of 不伦不类
More idioms starting with 不
- bù不yī一ér而zú足numerous and varied, impossible to list all
- bù不shàng上bù不xià下stuck in an awkward position
- bù不shàng上bù不luò落in an awkward or embarrassing situation
- bù不shì世zhī之yè业unparalleled achievements
- bù不shì世zhī之chóu仇unrivaled enmity
- bù不shì世zhī之gōng功unparalleled achievement
- bù不shì世zhī之lüè略unparalleled strategy
- bù不sàng丧bǐ匕chàng鬯peace and order, rituals undisturbed
- bù不fēng丰bù不jiǎn俭neither extravagant nor frugal
- bù不fēng丰bù不shā杀neither extravagant nor frugal
- bù不wèi为wǔ五dǒu斗mǐ米zhé折yāo腰Refuse to compromise integrity for meager gain
Questions about 不伦不类
- What does 不伦不类 mean?
- 不伦不类 (bù lún bù lèi) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Neither fish nor fowl”.
- How do you pronounce 不伦不类?
- 不伦不类 is pronounced bù lún bù lèi in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 不伦不类 literally mean?
- Literally, 不伦不类 means “Neither one thing nor another”. It is used to mean “Neither fish nor fowl”.
- Where does 不伦不类 come from?
- 不伦不类 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 不伦不类?
- 不伦：不同类。既非这一类，又非那一类，形容成样子或没有道理。