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喜新厭舊

简喜新厌旧 · 繁喜新厭舊

Mandarin · pinyin xǐ xīn yàn jiù

lit. to like the new, and hate the old (idiom); fig. enamored with new people (e.g. new girlfriend), bored with the old

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Characters in this entry

喜: xǐ · like, love, enjoy; joyful thing
新: xīn · new, recent, fresh, modern
厭: Look up this written character
舊: Look up this written character
厌: yàn · dislike, detest, reject; satiate
旧: jiù · old, ancient; former, past

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–4–4 · xi3 xin1 yan4 jiu4

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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.

喜新厭舊 · find source passages ↗ · 喜新厌旧 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hei2 san1 jim3 gau6

Cantonese word readings for 喜新厭舊. 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 love the new and loathe the old; to be fickle in affection (usually said of men)

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

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