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颠倒黑白

diān dǎo hēi báidictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to invert black and white (idiom) / to distort the truth deliberately / to misrepresent the facts / to invert right and wrong
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-d94b3264d0654c48. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

顛倒黑白 颠倒黑白 [dian1 dao3 hei1 bai2] /lit. to invert black and white (idiom); to distort the truth deliberately/to misrepresent the facts/to invert right and wrong/

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: 顛倒黑白

  • 颠
    diān

    top (of the head) / apex / to fall forwards / inverted / to jolt

  • 倒
    dǎo

    to fall / to collapse / to lie horizontally / to fail / to go bankrupt / to overthrow / to change (trains or buses) / to move around / to resell at a profit

    dào

    to invert / to place upside down or frontside back / to pour out / to tip out / to dump / inverted / upside down / reversed / to go backward / contrary to what one might expect / but / yet

  • 黑
    hēi

    black / dark / sinister / secret / shady / illegal / to hide (sth) away / to vilify / (loanword) to hack (computing)

    Hēi

    short name for Heilongjiang 黑龍江|黑龙江[Hēi lóng jiāng]

  • 白
    bái

    white / in vain / free of charge / (bound form) (of facts, the truth, a situation) clear / evident (e.g. 真相大白[zhēn xiàng dà bái]) / (bound form) plain / without additions (e.g. 白飯|白饭[bái fàn]) / (bound form) to explain / to state (e.g. 辯白|辩白[biàn bái]) / (bound form) to give a disdainful look (e.g. 白了他一眼[bái le tā yī yǎn]) / (bound form) vernacular (e.g. 白話|白话[bái huà]) / (bound form) spoken lines in opera (e.g. 念白[niàn bái]) / (bound form) reactionary / anti-communist (e.g. 白區|白区[bái qū])

    Bái

    surname Bai / Bai ethnic group

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.