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唱高調

简唱高调 · 繁唱高調

Mandarin · pinyin chàng gāo diào

to sing the high part
to speak fine sounding but empty words (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

唱: chàng · sing, chant, call; ditty, song
高: gāo · high, tall; lofty, elevated; Kangxi radical 189
調: Look up this written character
调: diào · transfer, move, change; tune

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4 · chang4 gao1 diao4

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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.

唱高調 · find source passages ↗ · 唱高调 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

coeng3 gou1 diu6

Cantonese word readings for 唱高調. 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 use grandiose words; to speak fine-sounding but empty words

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

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