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得心應手

简得心应手 · 繁得心應手

Mandarin · pinyin dé xīn yìng shǒu

lit. what the heart wishes, the hand accomplishes (idiom) skilled at the job
entirely in one's element
going smoothly and easily

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Characters in this entry

得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
應: yīng · should, ought to, must
手: shǒu · hand
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

2–1–4–3 · de2 xin1 ying4 shou3

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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.

得心應手 · find source passages ↗ · 得心应手 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dak1 sam1 jing3 sau2

Cantonese word readings for 得心應手. 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.

adv

(idiomatic) with high proficiency and facility, having perfect control over something

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

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