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侃

Mandarin · pinyin kǎn

upright and honest
cheerful
to chat idly
to boast
to talk smoothly

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侃: kǎn · upright and strong; amiable

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · kan3

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1character link18same-tone records

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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 · 5 senses · 2 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hon2 · hon3

Cantonese word readings for 侃. 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.

character · Etymology 1

(literary) upright; outspoken; straightforward
(literary) harmonious and happy; congenial
to boast; to tease

verb · Etymology 2

(colloquial) to chatter idly
(dialectal) to chat

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

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