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討巧

简讨巧 · 繁討巧

Mandarin · pinyin tǎo qiǎo

to act cleverly to get what one desires
to get the best at least expense

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Characters in this entry

討: Look up this written character
巧: qiǎo · skillful, ingenious, clever
讨: tǎo · to discuss; ask for, beg; demand; dun; marry

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3 · tao3 qiao3

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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.

討巧 · find source passages ↗ · 讨巧 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tou2 haau2

Cantonese word readings for 討巧. 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.

verb

to act artfully to get what one wants; to get the best for oneself at the least expense; to choose the easy way out

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

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