裝聾作啞

简 装聋作哑 · 繁 裝聾作啞
Mandarin · pinyin zhuāng lóng zuò yǎ

Meanings

  1. to play deaf-mute
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Characters in this entry

裝
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聾
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作
zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
啞
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装
zhuāng · dress, clothes, attire; fill
聋
lóng · deaf
哑
yǎ · dumb, mute; become hoarse
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · zhuang1 long2 zuo4 ya3

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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.

裝聾作啞 · find source passages ↗ · 装聋作哑 · 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

  1. (idiomatic) to pretend to not know; to deliberately to not ask or listen

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

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