出 尔 反 尔

chū ěr fǎn ěrdictionary entry

old: to reap the consequences of one's words (idiom, from Mencius) / modern: to go back on one's word / to blow hot and cold / to contradict oneself / inconsistent

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-61a44354a8341ead. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

出爾反爾 出尔反尔 [chu1 er3 fan3 er3] /old: to reap the consequences of one's words (idiom, from Mencius); modern: to go back on one's word/to blow hot and cold/to contradict oneself/inconsistent/

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: 出爾反爾

出
chū
to go out / to come out / to arise / to occur / to produce / to yield / to go beyond / to exceed / (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result) / classifier for dramas, plays, operas etc
尔
ěr
thus / so / like that / you / thou
反
fǎn
contrary / in reverse / inside out or upside down / to reverse / to return / to oppose / opposite / against / anti- / to rebel / to use analogy / instead / abbr. for 反切[fǎn qiè] phonetic system
尔
ěr
thus / so / like that / you / thou

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.