DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

子虛烏有

简子虚乌有 · 繁子虛烏有

Mandarin · pinyin zǐ xū wū yǒu

(idiom) to have no basis in fact; to be the product of sb's imagination

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Characters in this entry

子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
虛: Look up this written character
烏: Look up this written character
有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
虚: xū · false
乌: wū · crow, rook, raven; black, dark

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–1–3 · zi3 xu1 wu1 you3

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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.

子虛烏有 · find source passages ↗ · 子虚乌有 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zi2 heoi1 wu1 jau5

Cantonese word readings for 子虛烏有. 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

(figurative) fictitious; nonexistent; made-up; fabricated

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

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