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口是心非

Mandarin · pinyin kǒu shì xīn fēi

duplicity
hypocrisy (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

口: kǒu · mouth; open end; entrance, gate
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
非: fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1 · kou3 shi4 xin1 fei1

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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

hau2 si6 sam1 fei1

Cantonese word readings for 口是心非. 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 say one thing but mean another; what one thinks is different from what one says; two-faced; duplicity

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

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