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聰明伶俐

简聪明伶俐 · 繁聰明伶俐

Mandarin · pinyin cōng ming líng lì

(idiom) bright; clever; quick-witted

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Characters in this entry

聰: Look up this written character
明: míng · bright, light, brilliant; clear
伶: líng · lonely, solitary; actor
俐: lì · smooth; active; clever, sharp
聪: cōng · intelligent, clever, bright

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

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Mandarin tones

1–5–2–4 · cong1 ming5 ling2 li4

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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.

聰明伶俐 · find source passages ↗ · 聪明伶俐 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cung1 ming4 ling4 lei6

Cantonese word readings for 聰明伶俐. 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) clever and quick-witted

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

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