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魚目混珠

简鱼目混珠 · 繁魚目混珠

Mandarin · pinyin yú mù hùn zhū

to pass off fish eyes for pearls
to pass off fake products as genuine (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

魚: yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195
目: mù · eye; look, see; division, topic; Kangxi radical 109
混: hùn · to mix, blend, mingle; to bumble along
珠: zhū · precious stone, gem, jewel, pearl
鱼: yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–1 · yu2 mu4 hun4 zhu1

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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.

魚目混珠 · find source passages ↗ · 鱼目混珠 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jyu4 muk6 wan6 zyu1

Cantonese word readings for 魚目混珠. 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 pass off fake products as genuine

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

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