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貓膩

简猫腻 · 繁貓膩

Mandarin · pinyin māo nì

(coll.) something fishy; shenanigans

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Characters in this entry

貓: māo · cat
膩: Look up this written character
猫: māo · cat
腻: nì · greasy, oily, dirty; smooth

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · mao1 ni4

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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.

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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.

noun

(Mandarin, colloquial) underhanded activity; something fishy; trick

verb

(Mandarin, colloquial) to make mischief; to play a trick

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

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