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思來想去

简思来想去 · 繁思來想去

Mandarin · pinyin sī lái xiǎng qù

(idiom) to mull sth over

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Characters in this entry

思: sī · think, consider, ponder; final particle
來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
想: xiǎng · think, speculate, plan, consider
去: qù · go away, leave, depart
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–3–4 · si1 lai2 xiang3 qu4

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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.

思來想去 · find source passages ↗ · 思来想去 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to think about over and over; to wonder or ponder about something

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

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