DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

混為一談

简混为一谈 · 繁混為一談

Mandarin · pinyin hùn wéi yī tán

to confuse one thing with another (idiom); to muddle

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

混: hùn · to mix, blend, mingle; to bumble along
為: Look up this written character
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
談: tán · talk; conversation; surname
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
谈: tán · talk; conversation; surname

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–2–1–2 · hun4 wei2 yi1 tan2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

混為一談 · find source passages ↗ · 混为一谈 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to equate; to muddle; to confuse one thing for another

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack