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Chinese/Dictionary entry

红颜薄命

hóng yán bó mìngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
beautiful women suffer unhappy fates (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-f8d581d45f55efb7. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

紅顏薄命 红颜薄命 [hong2 yan2 bo2 ming4] /beautiful women suffer unhappy fates (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.

Other forms in these source records: 紅顏薄命

  • 红
    gōng

    used in 女紅|女红[nu : 3 gong1]

    hóng

    red / popular / revolutionary / bonus

    Hóng

    surname Hong

  • 颜
    yán

    color / face / countenance

    Yán

    surname Yan

  • 薄
    báo

    thin / cold in manner / indifferent / weak / light / infertile

    bó

    meager / slight / weak / ungenerous or unkind / frivolous / to despise / to belittle / to look down on / to approach or near

    bò

    see 薄荷[bò he]

    Bó

    surname Bo

  • 命
    mìng

    life / fate / order or command / to assign a name, title etc

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.