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自作多情

Mandarin · pinyin zì zuò duō qíng

to imagine that one's love is reciprocated; to shower affection on an uninterested party

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Characters in this entry

自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
作: zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
多: duō · much, many; more than, over
情: qíng · feeling, sentiment, emotion

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–2 · zi4 zuo4 duo1 qing2

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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 · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zi6 zok3 do1 cing4

Cantonese word readings for 自作多情. 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 display affection regardless of whether the other party accepts it; to imagine that one's affection is reciprocated
(in general) to indulge in one's own wishful thinking; to flatter oneself

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

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