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光怪陸離

简光怪陆离 · 繁光怪陸離

Mandarin · pinyin guāng guài lù lí

monstrous and multicolored
grotesque and variegated

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Characters in this entry

光: guāng · light, brilliant, shine; only
怪: guài · strange, unusual, peculiar
陸: Look up this written character
離: Look up this written character
陆: lù · land, continental; army
离: lí · rare beast; strange; elegant

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–4–2 · guang1 guai4 lu4 li2

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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.

光怪陸離 · find source passages ↗ · 光怪陆离 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwong1 gwaai3 luk6 lei4

Cantonese word readings for 光怪陸離. 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) monstrous and multicolored; grotesque and variegated

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

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