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寒蟬效應

简寒蝉效应 · 繁寒蟬效應

Mandarin · pinyin hán chán xiào yìng

the chilling effect of a climate of fear in which people are afraid to speak their mind

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Characters in this entry

寒: hán · cold, wintry, chilly
蟬: Look up this written character
效: xiào · result, effect; effectiveness
應: yīng · should, ought to, must
蝉: chán · cicada; continuous
应: yīng · should, ought to, must

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4 · han2 chan2 xiao4 ying4

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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.

寒蟬效應 · find source passages ↗ · 寒蝉效应 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hon4 sim4 haau6 jing3

Cantonese word readings for 寒蟬效應. 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.

noun

chilling effect (discouraging effect)

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

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