DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

物以稀為貴

简物以稀为贵 · 繁物以稀為貴

Mandarin · pinyin wù yǐ xī wéi guì

the rarer sth is, the greater its value (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

物: wù · thing, substance, creature
以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
稀: xī · rare, unusual, scarce; sparse
為: Look up this written character
貴: Look up this written character
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
贵: guì · expensive, costly, valuable

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–2–4 · wu4 yi3 xi1 wei2 gui4

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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.

物以稀為貴 · find source passages ↗ · 物以稀为贵 · find source passages ↗

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