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老於世故

简老于世故 · 繁老於世故

Mandarin · pinyin lǎo yú shì gù

experienced in the ways of the world (idiom); worldly-wise
sophisticated

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Characters in this entry

老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
於: yú · yū · in, at, on; interjection alas!
世: shì · generation; world; era
故: gù · ancient, old; reason, because
于: yú · in, on, at; go to; surname

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4–4 · lao3 yu2 shi4 gu4

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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.

老於世故 · find source passages ↗ · 老于世故 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lou5 jyu1 sai3 gu3

Cantonese word readings for 老於世故. 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

sophisticated and experienced

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

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