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愈演愈烈

Mandarin · pinyin yù yǎn yù liè

ever more critical
problems get more and more intense

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Characters in this entry

愈: yù · more and more, even more
演: yǎn · perform, put on; exercise
烈: liè · fiery, violent, vehement, ardent

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–4 · yu4 yan3 yu4 lie4

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to become more and more intense and serious

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

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