DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

弄假成真

Mandarin · pinyin nòng jiǎ chéng zhēn

pretense that turns into reality (idiom); to play at make-believe, but accidentally make it true

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Characters in this entry

弄: nòng · do, play or fiddle with; alley
假: jiǎ · falsehood, deception; vacation
成: chéng · completed, finished, fixed
真: zhēn · real, actual, true, genuine

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–2–1 · nong4 jia3 cheng2 zhen1

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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.

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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) to turn simulation into reality unintentionally; fantasy becomes reality

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

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