DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

怎麼著

简怎么着 · 繁怎麼著

Mandarin · pinyin zěn me zhāo

what?
how?
how about?
whatever
also pr. zěn me zhe

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Characters in this entry

怎: zěn · what? why? how?
麼: me · interrogative final particle; insignificant, small, tiny
著: zhù · zhe · manifest; (Cant.) to wear
么: me · interrogative particle; small
着: zhe · make move, take action

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

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Mandarin tones

3–5–1 · zen3 me5 zhao1

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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.

怎麼著 · find source passages ↗ · 怎么着 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

pron

(colloquial) Used to serve as a substitute for a verb phrase or a noun phrase; what; how
(colloquial) whatsoever; howsoever

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

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