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唱白臉

简唱白脸 · 繁唱白臉

Mandarin · pinyin chàng bái liǎn

to play the role of the villain (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

唱: chàng · sing, chant, call; ditty, song
白: bái · white; pure, unblemished; bright
臉: liǎn · face; cheek; reputation
脸: liǎn · face; cheek; reputation

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–3 · chang4 bai2 lian3

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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.

唱白臉 · find source passages ↗ · 唱白脸 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

coeng3 baak6 lim5

Cantonese word readings for 唱白臉. 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.

verb

(figurative, idiomatic) to play as the "bad cop" in a good cop bad cop tactic; to threaten or punish while having one's partner pacifying or appeasing the same target

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

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