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沉魚落雁

简沉鱼落雁 · 繁沉魚落雁

Mandarin · pinyin chén yú luò yàn

lit. fish sink, goose alights (idiom, from Zhuangzi 莊子 Zhuāng zǐ); fig. female beauty captivating even the birds and beasts

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Characters in this entry

沉: chén · sink, submerge; addicted to
魚: yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195
落: luò · fall, drop; net income, surplus
雁: yàn · wild goose
鱼: yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4 · chen2 yu2 luo4 yan4

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5character links1same-tone record1source reference

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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.

沉魚落雁 · find source passages ↗ · 沉鱼落雁 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cam4 jyu4 lok6 ngaan6

Cantonese word readings for 沉魚落雁. 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

(of women) extremely beautiful; drop-dead gorgeous

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

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