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小巧玲瓏

简小巧玲珑 · 繁小巧玲瓏

Mandarin · pinyin xiǎo qiǎo líng lóng

(idiom) dainty; delicate; exquisite

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Characters in this entry

小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
巧: qiǎo · skillful, ingenious, clever
玲: líng · tinkling of jade
瓏: Look up this written character
珑: lóng · a gem cut like dragon

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2–2 · xiao3 qiao3 ling2 long2

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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.

小巧玲瓏 · find source passages ↗ · 小巧玲珑 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

siu2 haau2 ling4 lung4

Cantonese word readings for 小巧玲瓏. 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

(idiomatic) small and exquisite

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

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