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忍气吞声

rěn qì tūn shēngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
to submit to humiliation (idiom) / to suffer in silence / to swallow one's anger / to grin and bear it
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-3c8b5527b3c5aeb7. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

忍氣吞聲 忍气吞声 [ren3 qi4 tun1 sheng1] /to submit to humiliation (idiom); to suffer in silence/to swallow one's anger/to grin and bear it/

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: 忍氣吞聲

  • 忍
    rěn

    to bear / to endure / to tolerate / to restrain oneself

  • 气
    qì

    gas / air / smell / weather / to make angry / to annoy / to get angry / vital energy / qi

  • 吞
    tūn

    to swallow / to take

  • 声
    shēng

    sound / voice / tone / noise / reputation / classifier for sounds

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.