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溫文爾雅

简温文尔雅 · 繁溫文爾雅

Mandarin · pinyin wēn wén ěr yǎ

cultured and refined (idiom); gentle and cultivated

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Characters in this entry

溫: Look up this written character
文: wén · literature, culture, writing
爾: Look up this written character
雅: yǎ · elegant, graceful, refined
温: wēn · lukewarm
尔: ěr · you; that, those; final particle

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–3–3 · wen1 wen2 er3 ya3

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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.

溫文爾雅 · find source passages ↗ · 温文尔雅 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wan1 man4 ji5 ngaa5

Cantonese word readings for 溫文爾雅. 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) gentle and polite; elegant and dignified

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

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