DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

妻管嚴

简妻管严 · 繁妻管嚴

Mandarin · pinyin qī guǎn yán

henpecked male

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

妻: qī · wife
管: guǎn · pipe, tube, duct; woodwind music
嚴: Look up this written character
严: yán · strict, rigorous, rigid; stern

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–3–2 · qi1 guan3 yan2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

妻管嚴 · find source passages ↗ · 妻管严 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cai1 gun2 jim4

Cantonese word readings for 妻管嚴. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

(neologism, slang, humorous, of a married man) to be henpecked by his wife; to be submissive at home

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

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