杯 弓 蛇 影

bēi gōng shé yǐngdictionary entry

lit. to see a bow reflected in a cup as a snake (idiom); fig. unnecessary suspicions / overly fearful

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-9af14dd1775c590e. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

杯弓蛇影 杯弓蛇影 [bei1 gong1 she2 ying3] /lit. to see a bow reflected in a cup as a snake (idiom); fig. unnecessary suspicions/overly fearful/

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Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

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Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.