知 人 知 面 不 知 心

zhī rén zhī miàn bù zhī xīndictionary entry

one may know a person for a long time without understanding his true nature (idiom)

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-ac3156163f189377. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

知人知面不知心 知人知面不知心 [zhi1 ren2 zhi1 mian4 bu4 zhi1 xin1] /one may know a person for a long time without understanding his true nature (idiom)/

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.

知
zhī
to know / to be aware
人
rén
person / people / CL:個|个[gè],位[wèi],名[míng]
知
zhī
to know / to be aware
面
miàn
face / side / surface / aspect / top / classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc / flour / noodles / (of food) soft (not crunchy) / (slang) (of a person) ineffectual / spineless
不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
知
zhī
to know / to be aware
心
xīn
heart / mind / intention / center / core / CL:顆|颗[kē],個|个[gè]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.