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慘

简惨 · 繁慘

Mandarin · pinyin cǎn

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Characters in this entry

慘: Look up this written character
惨: cǎn · sad, pitiful, wretched; cruel

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · can3

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1character link6same-tone records

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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.

慘 · find source passages ↗ · 惨 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

caam2

Cantonese word readings for 慘. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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.

character

(literary, or in compounds) cruel; vicious; malicious
(of losses, defeats, etc.) severe; crushing; heavy
miserable; pitiful; wretched
(literary, or in compounds) gloomy; dim; dismal

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

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