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愛財如命

简爱财如命 · 繁愛財如命

Mandarin · pinyin ài cái rú mìng

lit. to love money as much as one's own life (idiom)
fig. avaricious
tightfisted

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Characters in this entry

愛: ài · love, be fond of, like
財: Look up this written character
如: rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as
命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction
爱: ài · love, be fond of, like
财: cái · wealth, valuables, riches

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–2–4 · ai4 cai2 ru2 ming4

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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.

愛財如命 · find source passages ↗ · 爱财如命 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

oi3 coi4 jyu4 ming6

Cantonese word readings for 愛財如命. 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

(simile) to love money as if it were one's life; to be extremely stingy or greedy for money

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

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