粉墨登場
简 粉墨登场 · 繁 粉墨登場Meanings
- to make up and go on stage (idiom); to embark on a career (esp. in politics or crime)
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Mandarin tones
3–4–1–3 · fen3 mo4 deng1 chang3
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.
粉墨登場 · find source passages ↗ · 粉墨登场 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
fan2 mak6 dang1 coeng4
Cantonese word readings for 粉墨登場. 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 make oneself up and go onstage; to mount the stage in full make-up
- (now chiefly sarcastic) to embark upon a venture (esp. criminal or political)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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