老東西

简 老东西 · 繁 老東西
Mandarin · pinyin lǎo dōng xi

Meanings

  1. (derog.) old fool
  2. old bastard
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Characters in this entry

老
lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
東
dōng · east, eastern, eastward
西
xī · west(ern); westward; occident; Kangxi radical 146
东
dōng · east, eastern, eastward
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–1–5 · lao3 dong1 xi5

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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.

老東西 · find source passages ↗ · 老东西 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lou5 dung1 sai1

Cantonese word readings for 老東西. 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.

noun

  1. (colloquial, derogatory) old man, woman or creature

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

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