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翻臉不認人

简翻脸不认人 · 繁翻臉不認人

Mandarin · pinyin fān liǎn bù rèn rén

to fall out with sb and become hostile

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Characters in this entry

翻: fān · flip over, upset, capsize
臉: liǎn · face; cheek; reputation
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
認: rèn · recognize, know, understand
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
脸: liǎn · face; cheek; reputation
认: rèn · recognize, know, understand

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–4–4–2 · fan1 lian3 bu4 ren4 ren2

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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.

翻臉不認人 · find source passages ↗ · 翻脸不认人 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

faan1 lim5 bat1 jing6 jan4

Cantonese word readings for 翻臉不認人. 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 do an about-face and become hostile or cold to someone

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

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