DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

刻意為之

简刻意为之 · 繁刻意為之

Mandarin · pinyin kè yì wéi zhī

to make a conscious effort
to do something deliberately

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Characters in this entry

刻: kè · carve, engrave; quarter hour
意: yì · thought, idea, opinion; think
為: Look up this written character
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–1 · ke4 yi4 wei2 zhi1

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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.

刻意為之 · find source passages ↗ · 刻意为之 · find source passages ↗

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