DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

巧言令色

Mandarin · pinyin qiǎo yán lìng sè

Characters in this entry

巧: qiǎo · skillful, ingenious, clever
言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
令: lìng · command, order; 'commandant', magistrate; allow, cause
色: sè · color, tint, hue, shade; form, body; beauty, desire for beauty; Kangxi radical 139

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

3–2–4–4 · qiao3 yan2 ling4 se4

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

4character links

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

(idiomatic) with flourishing words and friendly countenance; with insincere courtesy