DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

認雞作鳳

简认鸡作凤 · 繁認雞作鳳

Mandarin · pinyin rèn jī zuò fèng

(lit.) to mistake a chicken for a phoenix (idiom)
(fig.) to overestimate sth's worth

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Characters in this entry

認: rèn · recognize, know, understand
雞: jī · chickens; domestic fowl
作: zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
鳳: Look up this written character
认: rèn · recognize, know, understand
鸡: jī · chicken
凤: fèng · male phoenix; symbol of joy

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–4 · ren4 ji1 zuo4 feng4

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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.

認雞作鳳 · find source passages ↗ · 认鸡作凤 · find source passages ↗

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