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見錢眼開

简见钱眼开 · 繁見錢眼開

Mandarin · pinyin jiàn qián yǎn kāi

to open one's eyes wide at the sight of profit (idiom); thinking of nothing but personal gain
money-grubbing

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Characters in this entry

見: jiàn · see, observe, behold; perceive; Kangxi radical 147
錢: Look up this written character
眼: yǎn · eye; eyelet, hole, opening
開: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
见: jiàn · see, observe, behold; perceive
钱: qián · money, currency, coins
开: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–3–1 · jian4 qian2 yan3 kai1

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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.

見錢眼開 · find source passages ↗ · 见钱眼开 · find source passages ↗

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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.

adj

(idiomatic, colloquial, derogatory) greedy for money

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

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