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人間地獄

简人间地狱 · 繁人間地獄

Mandarin · pinyin rén jiān dì yù

hell on earth (idiom); suffering the torments of Buddhist hell while still alive
fig. having an uncomfortable time

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Characters in this entry

人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
間: Look up this written character
地: de · dì · earth; soil, ground; region
獄: Look up this written character
间: jiān · midpoint, space; place, locality
狱: yù · prison, jail; case; lawsuit

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–4 · ren2 jian1 di4 yu4

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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.

人間地獄 · find source passages ↗ · 人间地狱 · find source passages ↗

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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

(idiomatic) hell on earth

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

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