HKDictionary

退而求其次 (teoi3 ji4 kau4 kei4 ci3) — next best thing; have to put up with the second best in Cantonese

teoi˗₃退jiˎ₄而kauˎ₄求keiˎ₄其ci˗₃次
Mandarin Pinyin: tui4 er2 qiu2 qi2 ci4

Meaning of 退而求其次

nounnext best thing; have to put up with the second best

Characters in 退而求其次

退teoi3
cancel; retract; withdraw
而ji4
on the condition that; supposing that; if
求kau4
demand; require; desire
其kei4
used as rhetorical word to form a four-character expression
次ci3
hypo-

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