DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

得便宜賣乖

简得便宜卖乖 · 繁得便宜賣乖

Mandarin · pinyin dé pián yi mài guāi

to have benefited from sth but pretend otherwise
to claim to be hard done by, even though one has benefited

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
便: biàn · convenience, ease; expedient
宜: yí · suitable, right, fitting, proper
賣: Look up this written character
乖: guāi · rebel; crafty, shrewd
卖: mài · sell; betray; show off

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–2–5–4–1 · de2 pian2 yi5 mai4 guai1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

6character 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.

得便宜賣乖 · find source passages ↗ · 得便宜卖乖 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗