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頤指氣使

简颐指气使 · 繁頤指氣使

Mandarin · pinyin yí zhǐ qì shǐ

lit. to order people by pointing the chin (idiom); to signal orders by facial gesture
arrogant and bossy

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Characters in this entry

頤: Look up this written character
指: zhǐ · finger, toe; point, indicate
氣: qì · air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit
使: shǐ · cause, send on a mission, order; envoy, messenger, ambassador
颐: yí · cheeks; jaw; chin; rear; to nourish
气: qì · steam, vapor; Kangxi radical 84

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

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Mandarin tones

2–3–4–3 · yi2 zhi3 qi4 shi3

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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.

頤指氣使 · find source passages ↗ · 颐指气使 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji4 zi2 hei3 sai2

Cantonese word readings for 頤指氣使. 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 be arrogant; to be contemptuous

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

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