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能說會道

简能说会道 · 繁能說會道

Mandarin · pinyin néng shuō huì dào

can talk really well (idiom); the gift of the gab

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Characters in this entry

能: néng · to be able; can, permitted to; ability
說: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
會: huì · to assemble, meet together; a meeting; an organization
道: dào · path, road, street; method, way
说: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
会: huì · assemble, meet together; meeting

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–4 · neng2 shuo1 hui4 dao4

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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.

能說會道 · find source passages ↗ · 能说会道 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to have the gift of gab; to have a glib tongue

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

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