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枉

Mandarin · pinyin wǎng

to twist
crooked
unjust
in vain

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枉: wǎng · useless, in vain; bent, crooked

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · wang3

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1character link19same-tone records

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 8 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wong2

Cantonese word readings for 枉. 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.

character

bent; crooked
depraved; indecent; perverse
to distort; to twist; to bend
unjust; wrong
injustice
(literary) to condescend; to deign
in vain; to no avail; for naught
(Hong Kong Cantonese, triad slang) three

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

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