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外刚内柔

wài gāng nèi róudictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
soft on the inside despite one's hard shell / appearing tough on the outside as to mask one's inner vulnerability / also written 內柔外剛|内柔外刚[nèi róu wài gāng]
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-14583777dbce03c9. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

外剛內柔 外刚内柔 [wai4 gang1 nei4 rou2] /soft on the inside despite one's hard shell/appearing tough on the outside as to mask one's inner vulnerability/also written 內柔外剛|内柔外刚[nei4 rou2 wai4 gang1]/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 外剛內柔

  • 外
    wài

    outside / in addition / foreign / external

  • 刚
    gāng

    (literary) hard / firm / strong / exactly / precisely / barely / only just / just / only a short while ago

  • 内
    nèi

    inside / inner / internal / within / interior

  • 柔
    róu

    soft / flexible / supple / yielding / rho (Greek letter Ρρ)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.