啼 笑 皆 非

tí xiào jiē fēidictionary entry

lit. not to know whether to laugh or cry (idiom) / between laughter and tears

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-77ab4c0e5bff2c32. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

啼笑皆非 啼笑皆非 [ti2 xiao4 jie1 fei1] /lit. not to know whether to laugh or cry (idiom)/between laughter and tears/

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.

啼
tí
(bound form) to cry / to weep loudly / (bound form) (of a bird or animal) to crow / to hoot / to screech
笑
xiào
to laugh / to smile / to laugh at
皆
jiē
all / each and every / in all cases
非
fēi
to not be / not / wrong / incorrect / non- / un- / in- / de- / to reproach / to blame / (coll.) to insist on / simply must
Fēi
abbr. for 非洲[Fēi zhōu], Africa

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.