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口蜜腹劍

简口蜜腹剑 · 繁口蜜腹劍

Mandarin · pinyin kǒu mì fù jiàn

lit. honeyed words, a sword in the belly (idiom); fig. hypocritical and murderous

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Characters in this entry

口: kǒu · mouth; open end; entrance, gate
蜜: mì · honey; sweet; nectar
腹: fù · stomach, belly, abdomen; inside
劍: Look up this written character
剑: jiàn · sword, dagger, saber

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–4–4 · kou3 mi4 fu4 jian4

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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.

口蜜腹劍 · find source passages ↗ · 口蜜腹剑 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hau2 mat6 fuk1 gim3

Cantonese word readings for 口蜜腹劍. 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) sweet words, but a wicked heart

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

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