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似笑非笑

Mandarin · pinyin sì xiào fēi xiào

Meanings

  1. like a smile yet not a smile (idiom)
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Characters in this entry

似
sì · resemble, similar to; as if, seem
笑
xiào · smile, laugh, giggle; snicker
非
fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 似笑非笑 ↗Words written with 似 ↗Words written with 笑 ↗Words written with 非 ↗

Mandarin tones

4–4–1–4 · si4 xiao4 fei1 xiao4

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Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

ci5 siu3 fei1 siu3

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.

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) to give a faint or forced smile

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack