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自慚形穢

简自惭形秽 · 繁自慚形穢

Mandarin · pinyin zì cán xíng huì

(idiom) to feel inferior; to feel inadequate

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Characters in this entry

自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
慚: Look up this written character
形: xíng · form, shape, appearance
穢: Look up this written character
惭: cán · ashamed, humiliated; shameful
秽: huì · dirty, unclean; immoral, obscene

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–2–4 · zi4 can2 xing2 hui4

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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.

自慚形穢 · find source passages ↗ · 自惭形秽 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zi6 caam4 jing4 wai3

Cantonese word readings for 自慚形穢. 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 feel ashamed of one's inferiority

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

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