勾心鬥角
简 勾心斗角 · 繁 勾心鬥角Meanings
- to fight and scheme against each other (idiom)
- (in palace construction) elaborate and refined
Characters in this entry
- 勾
- gōu · hook, join, connect; entice
- 心
- xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
- 鬥
- Look up this written character
- 角
- jiǎo · horn; angle, corner; point; Kangxi radical 148; 1st lunar mansion, determinative star Spica
- 斗
- dòu · dǒu · a dipper; unit of volume (ten 升 or litres); Kangxi radical 68; 8th lunar mansion, determinative star φ Sagittarii
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
1–1–4–3 · gou1 xin1 dou4 jiao3
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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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.
勾心鬥角 · find source passages ↗ · 勾心斗角 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
ngau1 sam1 dau3 gok3
Cantonese word readings for 勾心鬥角. 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
- (in palace construction) elaborate and refined
- (idiomatic) to fight and scheme against each other
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack