DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

電光石火

简电光石火 · 繁電光石火

Mandarin · pinyin diàn guāng shí huǒ

(idiom) in a flash; fleeting; momentary

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

電: Look up this written character
光: guāng · light, brilliant, shine; only
石: shí · stone, rock, mineral; Kangxi radical 112
火: huǒ · fire, flame; burn; anger, rage
电: diàn · electricity; electric; lightning

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–1–2–3 · dian4 guang1 shi2 huo3

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.

電光石火 · find source passages ↗ · 电光石火 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

din6 gwong1 sek6 fo2

Cantonese word readings for 電光石火. 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) something that vanishes in a flash

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

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