拐彎抹角
简 拐弯抹角 · 繁 拐彎抹角Meanings
- lit. going round the curves and skirting the corners (idiom)
- fig. to speak in a roundabout way
- to equivocate
- to beat about the bush
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Mandarin tones
3–1–4–3 · guai3 wan1 mo4 jiao3
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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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.
拐彎抹角 · find source passages ↗ · 拐弯抹角 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
gwaai2 waan1 mut3 gok3
Cantonese word readings for 拐彎抹角. 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 twist and turn; to turn a corner here and there
- (figurative) to speak in a roundabout way; to beat around the bush; to equivocate
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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