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八面玲瓏

简八面玲珑 · 繁八面玲瓏

Mandarin · pinyin bā miàn líng lóng

be smooth and slick (in establishing social relations)

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Characters in this entry

八: bā · eight; all around, all sides
面: miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
玲: líng · tinkling of jade
瓏: Look up this written character
珑: lóng · a gem cut like dragon

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–2–2 · ba1 mian4 ling2 long2

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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.

八面玲瓏 · find source passages ↗ · 八面玲珑 · find source passages ↗

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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) smooth and slick (in making social contacts)

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

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