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以貌取人

Mandarin · pinyin yǐ mào qǔ rén

to judge sb by appearances (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
貌: mào · countenance, appearance
取: qǔ · take, receive, obtain; select
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–3–2 · yi3 mao4 qu3 ren2

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji5 maau6 ceoi2 jan4

Cantonese word readings for 以貌取人. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to judge a book by its cover; to judge people by their appearance

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

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