亂麻

简 乱麻 · 繁 亂麻
Mandarin · pinyin luàn má

Meanings

  1. lit. tangled skein
  2. in a tremendous muddle
  3. confused
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

亂
Look up this written character
麻
má · hemp, jute, flax; sesame; Kangxi radical 200
乱
luàn · confusion, state of chaos, revolt
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–2 · luan4 ma2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

亂麻 · find source passages ↗ · 乱麻 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lyun6 maa4

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

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

  1. tangled skein
  2. (figurative) tremendous muddle; jumble

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack