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衣冠禽獸

简衣冠禽兽 · 繁衣冠禽獸

Mandarin · pinyin yī guān qín shòu

lit. dressed up animal (idiom)
fig. immoral and despicable person

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Characters in this entry

衣: yī · clothes, clothing; cover, skin; Kangxi radical 145
冠: guān · cap, crown, headgear
禽: qín · birds, fowl; surname; capture
獸: Look up this written character
兽: shòu · beast, animal; bestial

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–4 · yi1 guan1 qin2 shou4

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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.

衣冠禽獸 · find source passages ↗ · 衣冠禽兽 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji1 gun1 kam4 sau3

Cantonese word readings for 衣冠禽獸. 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

(derogatory) beast in human attire; gentleman in appearance but a beast in conduct; immoral or despicable person

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

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