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遊刃有餘

简游刃有余 · 繁遊刃有餘

Mandarin · pinyin yóu rèn yǒu yú

handling a butcher's cleaver with ease (idiom); to do sth skillfully and easily

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Characters in this entry

遊: yóu · wander, roam, travel
刃: rèn · edged tool, cutlery, knife edge
有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
餘: Look up this written character
游: yóu · to swim; float, drift; wander, roam
余: yú · I, my, me; surname; surplus

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–3–2 · you2 ren4 you3 yu2

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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.

遊刃有餘 · find source passages ↗ · 游刃有余 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jau4 jan6 jau5 jyu4

Cantonese word readings for 遊刃有餘. 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.

phrase

(literally) to handle a blade skillfully
(figurative) to do a task with skills and ease; to achieve something effortlessly

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

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