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眉開眼笑

简眉开眼笑 · 繁眉開眼笑

Mandarin · pinyin méi kāi yǎn xiào

brows raised in delight, eyes laughing (idiom); beaming with joy
all smiles

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Characters in this entry

眉: méi · eyebrows; upper margin of book
開: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
眼: yǎn · eye; eyelet, hole, opening
笑: xiào · smile, laugh, giggle; snicker
开: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–3–4 · mei2 kai1 yan3 xiao4

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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.

眉開眼笑 · find source passages ↗ · 眉开眼笑 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mei4 hoi1 ngaan5 siu3

Cantonese word readings for 眉開眼笑. 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 look cheerful

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

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