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判若雲泥

简判若云泥 · 繁判若雲泥

Mandarin · pinyin pàn ruò yún ní

as different as heaven and earth (idiom)
worlds apart

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Characters in this entry

判: pàn · judge; discriminate; conclude
若: ruò · if, supposing, assuming; similar
雲: yún · clouds; Yunnan province
泥: ní · mud, mire; earth, clay; plaster
云: yún · say, speak; clouds

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · pan4 ruo4 yun2 ni2

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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.

判若雲泥 · find source passages ↗ · 判若云泥 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

pun3 joek6 wan4 nai4

Cantonese word readings for 判若雲泥. 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

(literary) to be a world of difference between them; to be worlds away

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

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