空穴來風
简 空穴来风 · 繁 空穴來風Meanings
- lit. wind from an empty cave (idiom)
- fig. unfounded (story)
- baseless (claim)
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Mandarin tones
1–2–2–1 · kong1 xue2 lai2 feng1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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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.
空穴來風 · find source passages ↗ · 空穴来风 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
hung1 jyut6 loi4 fung1
Cantonese word readings for 空穴來風. 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
- (of a rumour, literary, dated) to be not completely unsound; to have a basis for its existence
- (of a rumour, in modern uses, sometimes proscribed) to be completely unsound; to be utterly baseless
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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