DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

攀附

Mandarin · pinyin pān fù

to climb (of climbing plants)
to creep
to cling on to
fig. to seek connection (with the rich and powerful)
social climbing

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Characters in this entry

攀: pān · climb; pull; hang on to
附: fù · adhere to, append; rely on near to

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · pan1 fu4

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

paan1 fu6

Cantonese word readings for 攀附. 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.

verb

to play up to (people of power and influence)
to cling (to something like a vine); to climb

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

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