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鶴立雞群

简鹤立鸡群 · 繁鶴立雞群

Mandarin · pinyin hè lì jī qún

a crane in a flock of chicken (idiom); way above the common
manifestly superior

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Characters in this entry

鶴: Look up this written character
立: lì · stand; let stand; establish, set
雞: jī · chickens; domestic fowl
群: qún · group, crowd, multitude, mob
鹤: hè · crane; Grus species (various)
鸡: jī · chicken

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–2 · he4 li4 ji1 qun2

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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.

鶴立雞群 · find source passages ↗ · 鹤立鸡群 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hok6 laap6 gai1 kwan4

Cantonese word readings for 鶴立雞群. 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

(figurative) an outstanding person in a group of common people

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

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