DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

玲瓏剔透

简玲珑剔透 · 繁玲瓏剔透

Mandarin · pinyin líng lóng tī tòu

exquisitely made
very clever

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Characters in this entry

玲: líng · tinkling of jade
瓏: Look up this written character
剔: tī · pick out; scrape off; scrape meat
透: tòu · penetrate, pass through
珑: lóng · a gem cut like dragon

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–1–4 · ling2 long2 ti1 tou4

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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.

玲瓏剔透 · find source passages ↗ · 玲珑剔透 · find source passages ↗

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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) carved delicately and exquisitely
(idiomatic) witty, clever, smart
(of an essay or text) ingenious, well-crafted

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

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