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世故

Mandarin · pinyin shì gù#

the ways of the world

Mandarin · pinyin shì gu#

sophisticated
worldly-wise

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Characters in this entry

世: shì · generation; world; era
故: gù · ancient, old; reason, because

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4 · shi4 gu4

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sai3 gu3

Cantonese word readings for 世故. 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.

noun

ways of the world
(archaic) livelihood
(archaic) accident; mishap
(archaic) turmoil; social upheaval caused by war
(archaic) longstanding friendship between two families; generations of family friendship

adj

shrewd; canny; slick and sly

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

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