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惟妙惟肖

Mandarin · pinyin wéi miào wéi xiào

to imitate to perfection
to be remarkably true to life

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Characters in this entry

惟: wéi · but, however, nevertheless; only
妙: miào · mysterious, subtle; exquisite
肖: xiào · look like, resemble, be like

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–2–4 · wei2 miao4 wei2 xiao4

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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

wai4 miu6 wai4 ciu3

Cantonese word readings for 惟妙惟肖. 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) remarkably lifelike; vividly depicted

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

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