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同流合污

Mandarin · pinyin tóng liú hé wū

to wallow in the mire with sb (idiom); to follow the bad example of others

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Characters in this entry

同: tóng · same, similar; together with
流: liú · flow, circulate, drift; class
合: hé · combine, unite, join; gather
污: wū · filthy, dirty, impure, polluted

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–1 · tong2 liu2 he2 wu1

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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

tung4 lau4 hap6 wu1

Cantonese word readings for 同流合污. 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 commit evil deeds together with the contemptible and evil people

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

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