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慈眉善目

Mandarin · pinyin cí méi shàn mù

(idiom) kind-looking; benevolent-looking

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Characters in this entry

慈: cí · kind, charitable, benevolent
眉: méi · eyebrows; upper margin of book
善: shàn · good, virtuous, charitable, kind
目: mù · eye; look, see; division, topic; Kangxi radical 109

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4 · ci2 mei2 shan4 mu4

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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

ci4 mei4 sin6 muk6

Cantonese word readings for 慈眉善目. 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 have kind and gentle appearance

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

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