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等閒

简等闲 · 繁等閒

Mandarin · pinyin děng xián

ordinary
common
unimportant
idly
for no reason

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Characters in this entry

等: děng · rank, grade; to wait; equal, “and so forth”
閒: Look up this written character
闲: xián · fence, guard; defend; idle time

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2 · deng3 xian2

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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.

等閒 · find source passages ↗ · 等闲 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dang2 haan4

Cantonese word readings for 等閒. 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.

adj

(literary) ordinary; unimportant

adv

(literary) aimlessly; thoughtlessly

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack