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省油的灯

shěng yóu de dēngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
sb who is easy to deal with (usu. in the negative, e.g. after 不是[bù shì])
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-81400ceb88e0ae46. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

省油的燈 省油的灯 [sheng3 you2 de5 deng1] /sb who is easy to deal with (usu. in the negative, e.g. after 不是[bu4 shi4])/

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: 省油的燈

  • 省
    shěng

    to save / to economize / to be frugal / to omit / to delete / to leave out / province / provincial capital / a ministry (of the Japanese government)

    xǐng

    (bound form) to scrutinize / (bound form) to reflect (on one's conduct) / (bound form) to come to realize / (bound form) to pay a visit (to one's parents or elders)

  • 油
    yóu

    oil / fat / grease / petroleum / to apply tung oil, paint or varnish / oily / greasy / glib / cunning

  • 的
    de

    of / ~'s (possessive particle) / (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun) / (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis) / (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的[pí gé de] "one made of leather" or 跑堂兒的|跑堂儿的[pǎo táng r de] "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的[xīn de] "new one") / also pr. [dì] or [di] in poetry and songs

    dī

    (bound form) a taxi / a cab (abbr. for 的士[dī shì])

    dí

    really and truly

    dì

    (bound form) bull's-eye / target

  • 灯
    dēng

    lamp / light / lantern / CL:盞|盏[zhǎn]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.