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想要

Mandarin · pinyin xiǎng yào

to want to
to feel like
to fancy
to care for sb
desirous of

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Characters in this entry

想: xiǎng · think, speculate, plan, consider
要: yào · necessary, essential; necessity

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4 · xiang3 yao4

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

would like; want; wish to have

adj

(euphemistic) horny; sexually aroused

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

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