羊質虎皮

简 羊质虎皮 · 繁 羊質虎皮
Mandarin · pinyin yáng zhì hǔ pí

Meanings

  1. lit. the heart of a sheep in the skin of a tiger (idiom)
  2. fig. impressive in appearance but lacking in substance
  3. braggart
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Characters in this entry

羊
yáng · sheep, goat; Kangxi radical 123
質
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虎
hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
皮
pí · skin, hide, fur, feather; outer
质
zhì · matter, material, substance
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–4–3–2 · yang2 zhi4 hu3 pi2

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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.

羊質虎皮 · find source passages ↗ · 羊质虎皮 · find source passages ↗

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羊質虎皮 · yang2 zhi4 hu3 pi2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 87,912
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record羊質虎皮 羊质虎皮 [yang2 zhi4 hu3 pi2] /lit. the heart of a sheep in the skin of a tiger (idiom)/fig. impressive in appearance but lacking in substance/braggart/