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什麼鬼

简什么鬼 · 繁什麼鬼

Mandarin · pinyin shén me guǐ

(coll.) what the hell?; what on earth? (expression of confusion, disbelief or annoyance)

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Characters in this entry

什: shén · file of ten soldiers; mixed, miscellaneous
麼: me · interrogative final particle; insignificant, small, tiny
鬼: guǐ · ghost; spirit of dead; devil; Kangxi radical 194; 23rd lunar mansion, determinative star θ Cancri
么: me · interrogative particle; small

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

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Mandarin tones

2–5–3 · shen2 me5 gui3

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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.

什麼鬼 · find source passages ↗ · 什么鬼 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sam6 mo1 gwai2

Cantonese word readings for 什麼鬼. 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.

pron

(emphatic) what the Devil, what the hell

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

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