CANTONESE ↔ ENGLISH · CC-CANTO

東施效顰

简东施效颦 · 繁東施效顰

Cantonese · source Jyutpingdung1 si1 haau6 pan4

blindly copy others lead to worse results (idiom)

About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

dung11 · high levelsi11 · high levelhaau66 · low levelpan44 · low falling

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

dung東dung1east 懂dung2Know 冻dung3Iceddung4—dung5—動dung6to move

si斯si1this 史si2history 试si3to test 时si4o'clock 市si5market 事si6matter

haau敲haau1to hit 巧haau2opportunely 孝haau3filial piety or obediencehaau4—haau5—校haau6

panpan1—pan2—喷pan3to puff 贫pan4poor 牝pan5femalepan6—

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

東施效顰东颦

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

東施效顰 Dōng Shī xiào pín CC-CEDICT · Mandarinlit. Dong Shi imitates Xi Shi's frown (idiom); fig. to mimick sb's idiosyncrasies but make a fool of oneself

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: dong1 shi1 xiao4 pin2. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dung1 si1 haau6 pan4

Cantonese word readings for 東施效顰. 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 imitate others only to make a fool of oneself; to attempt a crude or awkward imitation

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

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