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意氣用事

简意气用事 · 繁意氣用事

Mandarin · pinyin yì qì yòng shì

(idiom) to let emotions affect one's decisions

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Characters in this entry

意: yì · thought, idea, opinion; think
氣: qì · air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit
用: yòng · use, employ, apply, operate; use
事: shì · affair, matter, business; to serve; accident, incident
气: qì · steam, vapor; Kangxi radical 84

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–4 · yi4 qi4 yong4 shi4

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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.

意氣用事 · find source passages ↗ · 意气用事 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji3 hei3 jung6 si6

Cantonese word readings for 意氣用事. 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 act on impulse

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

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