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咸鱼翻身

xián yú fān shēndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. the salted fish turns over (idiom) / fig. to experience a reversal of fortune
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-483d12f6ed8dd060. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

鹹魚翻身 咸鱼翻身 [xian2 yu2 fan1 shen1] /lit. the salted fish turns over (idiom)/fig. to experience a reversal of fortune/

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: 鹹魚翻身

  • 咸
    xián

    all / everyone / each / widespread / harmonious / salted / salty / stingy / miserly

    Xián

    surname Xian

  • 鱼
    yú

    fish (CL:條|条[tiáo],尾[wěi]) / used in the names of various aquatic animals that are not fish (including abalone 鮑魚|鲍鱼[bào yú], alligators and crocodiles 鱷魚|鳄鱼[è yú] and octopi 章魚|章鱼[zhāng yú])

    Yú

    surname Yu

  • 翻
    fān

    to turn over / to flip over / to overturn / to rummage through / to translate / to decode / to double / to climb over or into / to cross

  • 身
    shēn

    body / life / oneself / personally / one's morality and conduct / the main part of a structure or body / pregnant / classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset / Kangxi radical 158

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.