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閃爍其詞

简闪烁其词 · 繁閃爍其詞

Mandarin · pinyin shǎn shuò qí cí

to speak evasively (idiom); beating about the bush

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Characters in this entry

閃: Look up this written character
爍: Look up this written character
其: qí · his, her, its, their; that
詞: Look up this written character
闪: shǎn · flash; avoid, dodge, evade
烁: shuò · shine, glitter, sparkle
词: cí · words; phrase, expression

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–2–2 · shan3 shuo4 qi2 ci2

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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.

閃爍其詞 · find source passages ↗ · 闪烁其词 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sim2 soek3 kei4 ci4

Cantonese word readings for 閃爍其詞. 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 speak evasively; to hedge; to beat around the bush

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack