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痛定思痛

Mandarin · pinyin tòng dìng sī tòng

to think of the pain when the pain is gone (idiom)
to ponder about a painful experience

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Characters in this entry

痛: tòng · pain, ache; sorry, sad; bitter
定: dìng · decide, settle, fix
思: sī · think, consider, ponder; final particle

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–4 · tong4 ding4 si1 tong4

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tung3 ding6 si1 tung3

Cantonese word readings for 痛定思痛. 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) to recall one's painful experience after the sorrow has passed, often to learn a lesson from the bitter experience

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

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