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恍然大悟

Mandarin · pinyin huǎng rán dà wù

(idiom) to suddenly realize; to suddenly see the light

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Characters in this entry

恍: huǎng · seemingly; absent-minded
然: rán · yes, certainly; pledge, promise
大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
悟: wù · to apprehend, realize, become aware

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4–4 · huang3 ran2 da4 wu4

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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

fong2 jin4 daai6 ng6

Cantonese word readings for 恍然大悟. 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) to suddenly realise

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

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