DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
人不可貌相
Mandarin · pinyin rén bù kě mào xiàng
Meanings
- you can't judge a person by appearance (idiom)
- you can't judge a book by its cover
- often in combination 人不可貌相，海水不可斗量 rén bù kě mào xiàng, hǎi shuǐ bù kě dǒu liáng
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Mandarin tones
2–4–3–4–4 · ren2 bu4 ke3 mao4 xiang4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
jan4 bat1 ho2 maau6 soeng3
Cantonese word readings for 人不可貌相. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
jan4 bat1 ho2 maau6 soeng3
Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
proverb
- one cannot judge someone by his or her appearance; you can’t judge a book by its cover
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack