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微言大義

简微言大义 · 繁微言大義

Mandarin · pinyin wēi yán dà yì

subtle words with profound meaning (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

微: wēi · small, prefix micro-, trifling
言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
義: Look up this written character
义: yì · right conduct, righteousness

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–4 · wei1 yan2 da4 yi4

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Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) using few words to convey deep meaning

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

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