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耿耿於懷

简耿耿于怀 · 繁耿耿於懷

Mandarin · pinyin gěng gěng yú huái

to take troubles to heart (idiom); brooding

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Characters in this entry

耿: gěng · bright, shining; have guts
於: yú · yū · in, at, on; interjection alas!
懷: Look up this written character
于: yú · in, on, at; go to; surname
怀: huái · bosom, breast; carry in bosom

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2–2 · geng3 geng3 yu2 huai2

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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.

耿耿於懷 · find source passages ↗ · 耿耿于怀 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gang2 gang2 jyu1 waai4

Cantonese word readings for 耿耿於懷. 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 brood on; to not forget about a matter and always be troubled or vexed by it

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

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