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危言聳聽

简危言耸听 · 繁危言聳聽

Mandarin · pinyin wēi yán sǒng tīng

frightening words to scare people (idiom); alarmist talk
reds under the beds

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Characters in this entry

危: wēi · dangerous, precarious; high; 12th lunar mansion, determinative star α Aquarii (Sadalmelik)
言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
聳: Look up this written character
聽: tīng · hear, listen; understand; obey
耸: sǒng · urge on; rise up; stir, excite
听: tīng · hear; understand; obey, comply

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–3–1 · wei1 yan2 song3 ting1

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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.

危言聳聽 · find source passages ↗ · 危言耸听 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ngai4 jin4 sung2 ting3

Cantonese word readings for 危言聳聽. 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) to make exaggerated and frightening statements to scare people

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

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