馬耳東風

简 马耳东风 · 繁 馬耳東風
Mandarin · pinyin mǎ ěr dōng fēng

Meanings

  1. (lit.) the east wind blowing in a horse's ear (idiom)
  2. (fig.) words one pays no heed to
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

馬
Look up this written character
耳
ěr · ear; merely, only; handle; Kangxi radical 128
東
dōng · east, eastern, eastward
風
fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere; Kangxi radical 182
马
mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
东
dōng · east, eastern, eastward
风
fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–3–1–1 · ma3 er3 dong1 feng1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

7character 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.

馬耳東風 · find source passages ↗ · 马耳东风 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) not the least bit concerned; completely indifferent

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

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

馬耳東風 · ma3 er3 dong1 feng1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 120,847
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record馬耳東風 马耳东风 [ma3 er3 dong1 feng1] /(lit.) the east wind blowing in a horse's ear (idiom)/(fig.) words one pays no heed to/