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顛倒

简颠倒 · 繁顛倒

Mandarin · pinyin diān dǎo

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Characters in this entry

顛: Look up this written character
倒: dào · fall over; lie down; take turns
颠: diān · top, peak, summit; upset

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3 · dian1 dao3

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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.

顛倒 · find source passages ↗ · 颠倒 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 5 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

din1 dou2

Cantonese word readings for 顛倒. 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.

verb · Etymology 1

(literal) to turn upside-down; to reverse; to be topsy-turvy
(figurative) to be confused; to be deranged; to go crazy; to be chaotic; to be disorderly; to fool around; to behave irrationally or frivolously
(literary) to be overthrown; to be overturned

conj · Etymology 1

(literary or Taiwanese Hakka, Xiamen and Taiwanese Hokkien, Teochew) instead; on the contrary
(literary) only

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

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