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短小精悍

Mandarin · pinyin duǎn xiǎo jīng hàn

(of a person) short but plucky (idiom)
(of an article) concise and forceful

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Characters in this entry

短: duǎn · short; brief; deficient, lacking
小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
精: jīng · essence; semen; spirit
悍: hàn · courageous, brave; violent

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–4 · duan3 xiao3 jing1 han4

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) not imposing but strong and capable (of a man)
(idiomatic) short and pithy; terse and forceful (of a piece of writing)

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

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