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耳目一新

Mandarin · pinyin ěr mù yī xīn

a pleasant change
a breath of fresh air
refreshing

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Characters in this entry

耳: ěr · ear; merely, only; handle; Kangxi radical 128
目: mù · eye; look, see; division, topic; Kangxi radical 109
一: yī · one; a, an; alone
新: xīn · new, recent, fresh, modern

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1 · er3 mu4 yi1 xin1

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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

ji5 muk6 jat1 san1

Cantonese word readings for 耳目一新. 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) breath of fresh air; to find everything fresh and new

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

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