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發牢騷

简发牢骚 · 繁發牢騷

Mandarin · pinyin fā láo sāo

to whine
to be grouchy

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Characters in this entry

發: fā · issue, dispatch, send out, emit
牢: láo · prison; stable, pen; secure
騷: Look up this written character
发: fā · issue, dispatch, send out; hair
骚: sāo · harass, bother, annoy, disturb

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1 · fa1 lao2 sao1

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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.

發牢騷 · find source passages ↗ · 发牢骚 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faat3 lou4 sou1

Cantonese word readings for 發牢騷. 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.

verb

(verb-object) to complain; to whinge; to nag; to grumble; to be grouchy

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

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