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索然寡味

Mandarin · pinyin suǒ rán guǎ wèi

dull and insipid

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Characters in this entry

索: suǒ · large rope, cable; rules, laws; to demand, to exact; to search, inquire; isolated
然: rán · yes, certainly; pledge, promise
寡: guǎ · widowed; alone, friendless
味: wèi · taste, smell, odor; delicacy

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–3–4 · suo3 ran2 gua3 wei4

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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 · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sok3 jin4 gwaa2 mei6

Cantonese word readings for 索然寡味. 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) synonym of 索然無味 /索然无味 (suǒránwúwèi, “bored; unenthused”)

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

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