形影相隨

简 形影相随 · 繁 形影相隨
Mandarin · pinyin xíng yǐng xiāng suí

Meanings

  1. (lit.) body and shadow follow each other (idiom)
  2. (fig.) inseparable
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Characters in this entry

形
xíng · form, shape, appearance
影
yǐng · shadow; image, reflection; photograph
相
xiāng · mutual, reciprocal, each other
隨
Look up this written character
随
suí · follow, listen to, submit to
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–3–1–2 · xing2 ying3 xiang1 sui2

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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.

形影相隨 · find source passages ↗ · 形影相随 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jing4 jing2 soeng1 ceoi4

Cantonese word readings for 形影相隨. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

形影相隨 · xing2 ying3 xiang1 sui2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 39,684
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record形影相隨 形影相随 [xing2 ying3 xiang1 sui2] /(lit.) body and shadow follow each other (idiom)/(fig.) inseparable/