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心狠手辣

Mandarin · pinyin xīn hěn shǒu là

(idiom) vicious; merciless

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Characters in this entry

心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
狠: hěn · vicious, cruel; severely, extreme
手: shǒu · hand
辣: là · peppery, pungent, hot; cruel

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–3–4 · xin1 hen3 shou3 la4

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sam1 han2 sau2 laat6

Cantonese word readings for 心狠手辣. 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) vicious and ruthless; evil and cruel

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

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