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啞巴吃黃連

简哑巴吃黄连 · 繁啞巴吃黃連

Mandarin · pinyin yǎ ba chī huáng lián

no choice but to suffer in silence (idiom)
also written 啞巴吃黃蓮
(often precedes 有苦說不出 yǒu kǔ shuō bu chū)

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Characters in this entry

啞: Look up this written character
巴: bā · greatly desire, anxiously hope
吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
黃: huáng · yellow; surname; Kangxi radical 201
連: Look up this written character
哑: yǎ · dumb, mute; become hoarse
黄: huáng · yellow; surname
连: lián · join, connect; continuous; even

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

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Mandarin tones

3–5–1–2–2 · ya3 ba5 chi1 huang2 lian2

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6character links1same-tone record1source reference

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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.

啞巴吃黃連 · find source passages ↗ · 哑巴吃黄连 · find source passages ↗

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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) synonym of 啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出 /哑巴吃黄连——有苦说不出 (yǎba chī huánglián, yǒu kǔ shuōbùchū)

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

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