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揚長避短

简扬长避短 · 繁揚長避短

Mandarin · pinyin yáng cháng bì duǎn

to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses (idiom)
to play to one's strengths

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Characters in this entry

揚: Look up this written character
長: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
避: bì · avoid; turn aside; escape; hide
短: duǎn · short; brief; deficient, lacking
扬: yáng · scatter, spread; praise
长: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–3 · yang2 chang2 bi4 duan3

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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.

揚長避短 · find source passages ↗ · 扬长避短 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

joeng4 coeng4 bei6 dyun2

Cantonese word readings for 揚長避短. 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 make best use of one's advantages while avoiding their shortcomings

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

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