搔首弄姿

Mandarin · pinyin sāo shǒu nòng zī

Meanings

  1. (idiom) to strike a coquettish pose
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Characters in this entry

搔
sāo · to scratch
首
shǒu · head; first; leader, chief; a poem; Kangxi radical 185
弄
nòng · do, play or fiddle with; alley
姿
zī · one's manner, carriage, bearing
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–3–4–1 · sao1 shou3 nong4 zi1

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

  1. (of a woman) to act seductively

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

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