DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

錦上添花

简锦上添花 · 繁錦上添花

Mandarin · pinyin jǐn shàng tiān huā

(lit.) to add flowers to brocade (idiom)
(fig.) to make sth good even better; to add an extra (often nonessential) benefit or embellishment

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Characters in this entry

錦: Look up this written character
上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
添: tiān · append, add to; increase
花: huā · flower; blossoms
锦: jǐn · brocade, tapestry; embroidered

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1 · jin3 shang4 tian1 hua1

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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.

錦上添花 · find source passages ↗ · 锦上添花 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gam2 soeng6 tim1 faa1

Cantonese word readings for 錦上添花. 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

(idiomatic) to make perfection still more perfect

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

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