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欲仙欲死

Mandarin · pinyin yù xiān yù sǐ

to experience sheer ecstasy (or, when used ironically, sheer hell)

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Characters in this entry

欲: yù · desire, want, long for; intend
仙: xiān · Taoist super-being, transcendent, immortal
死: sǐ · die; dead; death

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–3 · yu4 xian1 yu4 si3

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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 · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

juk6 sin1 juk6 sei2

Cantonese word readings for 欲仙欲死. 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 be in utter ecstasy

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

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