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先聲奪人

简先声夺人 · 繁先聲奪人

Mandarin · pinyin xiān shēng duó rén

to gain the upper hand by a show of strength

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Characters in this entry

先: xiān · first, former, previous
聲: shēng · sound, voice, noise; tone; music
奪: Look up this written character
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
声: shēng · sound, voice, noise; tone; music
夺: duó · take by force, rob, snatch

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–2 · xian1 sheng1 duo2 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.

先聲奪人 · find source passages ↗ · 先声夺人 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sin1 sing1 dyut6 jan4

Cantonese word readings for 先聲奪人. 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 overawe one's opponent first by a show of strength

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

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