DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

家貧如洗

简家贫如洗 · 繁家貧如洗

Mandarin · pinyin jiā pín rú xǐ

extreme poverty (idiom); destitute
penniless
poor as church mice

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

家: jiā · house, home, residence; family
貧: Look up this written character
如: rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as
洗: xǐ · wash, rinse; clean, purify
贫: pín · poor, impoverished, needy

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–2–2–3 · jia1 pin2 ru2 xi3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character 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.

家貧如洗 · find source passages ↗ · 家贫如洗 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gaa1 pan4 jyu4 sai2

Cantonese word readings for 家貧如洗. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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