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冤家路窄

Mandarin · pinyin yuān jiā lù zhǎi

lit. for enemies, the road is narrow (idiom)
fig. rivals inevitably cross paths

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Characters in this entry

冤: yuān · grievance, injustice, wrong
家: jiā · house, home, residence; family
路: lù · road, path, street; journey
窄: zhǎi · narrow, tight; narrow-minded

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–3 · yuan1 jia1 lu4 zhai3

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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

jyun1 gaa1 lou6 zaak3

Cantonese word readings for 冤家路窄. 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) much as one wants to, one cannot avoid one's enemy

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

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