DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

隱惡揚善

简隐恶扬善 · 繁隱惡揚善

Mandarin · pinyin yǐn è yáng shàn

(idiom) to highlight sb's good points but omit to mention their faults

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

隱: Look up this written character
惡: Look up this written character
揚: Look up this written character
善: shàn · good, virtuous, charitable, kind
隐: yǐn · hide, conceal; hidden, secret
恶: è · evil, wicked, bad, foul
扬: yáng · scatter, spread; praise

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–4–2–4 · yin3 e4 yang2 shan4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

隱惡揚善 · find source passages ↗ · 隐恶扬善 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jan2 ok3 joeng4 sin6

Cantonese word readings for 隱惡揚善. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to conceal someone's faults and praise their merits

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

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