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左思右想

Mandarin · pinyin zuǒ sī yòu xiǎng

to turn over in one's mind (idiom); to think through from different angles
to ponder

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Characters in this entry

左: zuǒ · left; east; unorthodox, improper
思: sī · think, consider, ponder; final particle
右: yòu · right; west; right-wing
想: xiǎng · think, speculate, plan, consider

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–1–4–3 · zuo3 si1 you4 xiang3

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

zo2 si1 jau6 soeng2

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.

verb

(idiomatic) to deliberate, to think over

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

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