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活靈活現

简活灵活现 · 繁活靈活現

Mandarin · pinyin huó líng huó xiàn

living spirit, living image (idiom); true to life
vivid and realistic

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Characters in this entry

活: huó · live, exist, survive; lively
靈: Look up this written character
現: xiàn · appear, manifest, become visible
灵: líng · spirit, soul; spiritual world
现: xiàn · appear, manifest, become visible

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–4 · huo2 ling2 huo2 xian4

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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.

活靈活現 · find source passages ↗ · 活灵活现 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wut6 ling4 wut6 jin6

Cantonese word readings for 活靈活現. 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) vivid; lifelike; graphic

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

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