戲

简 戏 · 繁 戲
Mandarin · pinyin xì

Meanings

  1. trick
  2. drama
  3. play
  4. show
  5. Classifier: 齣 chū, 場 chǎng, 臺 tái
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Characters in this entry

戲
Look up this written character
戏
xì · theatrical play, show
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · xi4

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2character links52same-tone records10source references
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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.

戲 · find source passages ↗ · 戏 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 12 senses · 3 Cantonese readings

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fai1 · fu1 · hei3

Cantonese word readings for 戲. 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.

character

  1. to play; to amuse; to have fun
  2. to tease; to chaff
  3. theatrical play; show; theater; opera (Classifier: 齣/出 m c mn; 部 m)
  4. (dialectal) movie; film (Classifier: 齣/出 c; 套 c)
  5. (Cantonese) scene (Classifier: 場/场 c)
  6. (figurative) interesting part; hope
  7. (Penang Hokkien) program, programme: a performance of a show or other broadcast on radio or television.

character

  1. (alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 呼 (“to shout”), used in 於戲/於戏 (wūhū)

character

  1. (alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 羲 (xī), used in 伏戲/伏戏
  2. (obsolete) slanting; steep
  3. Used in place names.

character

  1. only used in 戲氏阪/戏氏阪

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack