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變本加厲

简变本加厉 · 繁變本加厲

Mandarin · pinyin biàn běn jiā lì

lit. change to more severe (idiom); to become more intense (esp. of shortcoming)
to aggravate
to intensify

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Characters in this entry

變: Look up this written character
本: běn · root, origin, source; basis
加: jiā · add to, increase, augment
厲: Look up this written character
变: biàn · change, transform, alter; rebel
厉: lì · whetstone; grind, sharpen; whet

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–4 · bian4 ben3 jia1 li4

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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.

變本加厲 · find source passages ↗ · 变本加厉 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bin3 bun2 gaa1 lai6

Cantonese word readings for 變本加厲. 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 get worse; to become aggravated; to intensify one's effort to do something wrong

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

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