嘆為觀止

简 叹为观止 · 繁 嘆為觀止
Mandarin · pinyin tàn wéi guān zhǐ

Meanings

  1. (idiom) to gasp in amazement
  2. to acclaim as the peak of perfection
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Characters in this entry

嘆
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為
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觀
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止
zhǐ · stop, halt, desist; detain
叹
tàn · sigh, admire
为
wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
观
guān · see, observe, view; appearance
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2–1–3 · tan4 wei2 guan1 zhi3

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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.

嘆為觀止 · find source passages ↗ · 叹为观止 · 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

  1. (idiomatic) to gasp in amazement; to acclaim as the peak of perfection

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

嘆為觀止 · tan4 wei2 guan1 zhi3
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 23,122
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record嘆為觀止 叹为观止 [tan4 wei2 guan1 zhi3] /(idiom) to gasp in amazement/to acclaim as the peak of perfection/