弦外之音
xián wài zhī yīn
Pinyin

Definition

弦外之音
 - 
xián wài zhī yīn
  1. overtone (music)
  2. (fig.) connotation
  3. implied meaning

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

zhī
  1. 1 (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de])
  2. 2 him
  3. 3 her
  4. 4 it
zhī qián
  1. 1 before
  2. 2 prior to
  3. 3 ago
  4. 4 previously
  5. 5 beforehand
zhī hòu
  1. 1 afterwards
  2. 2 following
  3. 3 later
  4. 4 after
zhī jiān
  1. 1 between
  2. 2 among
  3. 3 inter-
wài
  1. 1 outside
  2. 2 in addition
  3. 3 foreign
  4. 4 external
wài tào
  1. 1 coat
  2. 2 jacket
  3. 3 CL:件[jiàn]
wài miàn
  1. 1 outside (also pr. [wài mian] for this sense)
  2. 2 surface
  3. 3 exterior
  4. 4 external appearance
shēng yīn
  1. 1 voice
  2. 2 sound
  3. 3 CL:個|个[gè]
yīn yuè
  1. 1 music
  2. 2 CL:張|张[zhāng],曲[qǔ],段[duàn]
sān fēn zhī yī
  1. 1 one third
bù bài zhī dì
  1. 1 invincible position
zhōng wài
  1. 1 Sino-foreign
  2. 2 Chinese-foreign
  3. 3 home and abroad
jiǔ ér jiǔ zhī
  1. 1 over time
  2. 2 as time passes
  3. 3 in the fullness of time
zhī yī
  1. 1 one of (sth)
  2. 2 one out of a multitude
  3. 3 one (third, quarter, percent etc)
zhī shàng
  1. 1 above
zhī xià
  1. 1 under
  2. 2 beneath
  3. 3 less than
zhī zhōng
  1. 1 inside
  2. 2 among
  3. 3 in the midst of (doing sth)
  4. 4 during
zhī nèi
  1. 1 inside
  2. 2 within
zhī wài
  1. 1 outside
  2. 2 excluding
zhī suǒ yǐ
  1. 1 the reason why

Idioms (20)

一丘之貉
yī qiū zhī hé
  1. 1 jackals of the same tribe (idiom); fig. They are all just as bad as each other.
一之为甚
yī zhī wéi shèn
  1. 1 once is more than enough (idiom)
一年之计在于春
yī nián zhī jì zài yú chūn
  1. 1 the whole year must be planned for in the spring (idiom)
  2. 2 early planning is the key to success
一技之长
yī jì zhī cháng
  1. 1 proficiency in a particular field (idiom)
  2. 2 skill in a specialized area (idiom)
一掬同情之泪
yī jū tóng qíng zhī lèi
  1. 1 to shed tears of sympathy (idiom)
一日之计在于晨
yī rì zhī jì zài yú chén
  1. 1 make your day's plan early in the morning (idiom)
  2. 2 early morning is the golden time of the day
一日之雅
yī rì zhī yǎ
  1. 1 lit. friends for a day (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. casual acquaintance
一箭之仇
yī jiàn zhī chóu
  1. 1 a wrong suffered (idiom)
  2. 2 old grievance
  3. 3 previous defeat
一言以蔽之
yī yán yǐ bì zhī
  1. 1 one word says it all (idiom, from Analects); to cut a long story short
  2. 2 in a nutshell
不足为外人道
bù zú wéi wài rén dào
  1. 1 no use to tell others
  2. 2 let's keep this between ourselves (idiom)
之乎者也
zhī hū zhě yě
  1. 1 lit. 之[zhī], 乎[hū], 者[zhě] and 也[yě] (four grammatical particles of Classical Chinese) (idiom); fig. archaic expressions
九牛二虎之力
jiǔ niú èr hǔ zhī lì
  1. 1 tremendous strength (idiom)
九霄云外
jiǔ xiāo yún wài
  1. 1 beyond the topmost clouds (idiom)
  2. 2 unimaginably far away
井底之蛙
jǐng dǐ zhī wā
  1. 1 the frog at the bottom of the well (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. a person of limited outlook and experience
井蛙之见
jǐng wā zhī jiàn
  1. 1 the view of a frog in a well (idiom); fig. a narrow view
亡命之徒
wáng mìng zhī tú
  1. 1 runaway (idiom); desperate criminal
  2. 2 fugitive
人之常情
rén zhī cháng qíng
  1. 1 human nature (idiom)
  2. 2 a behavior that is only natural
人外有人,天外有天
rén wài yǒu rén , tiān wài yǒu tiān
  1. 1 in the wider world there are people more talented than oneself (idiom)
仇人相见,分外眼红
chóu rén xiāng jiàn , fèn wài yǎn hóng
  1. 1 when the enemies come face to face, their eyes blaze with hatred (idiom)
他山之石可以攻玉
tā shān zhī shí kě yǐ gōng yù
  1. 1 lit. the other mountain's stone can polish jade (idiom); to improve oneself by accepting criticism from outside
  2. 2 to borrow talent from abroad to develop the nation effectively

Sample Sentences

哟,你这问题可够尖锐的,让我觉得有弦外之音啊!吃醋嘛,要看是镇江香醋还是山西老陈醋,是苹果醋还是梅子醋,还要看是做糖醋排骨还是西湖醋鱼,还得讲究......
yō ,nǐ zhè wèntí kě gòu jiānruì de ,ràng wǒ juéde yǒu xiánwàizhīyīn a !chīcù ma ,yào kàn shì Zhènjiāng xiāngcù hái shì Shānxī lǎochéncù ,shì píngguǒ cù hái shì méizǐ cù ,háiyàokàn shì zuò tángcùpáigǔ hái shì xīhúcùyú ,hái děi jiǎngjiu ......
Oh, that's a sharp question! I feel like you're implying something! Vinegar...well, that depends whether it's aged Zhenjiang vinegar, or rice vinegar from Shanxi, if it's apple vinegar or plum vinegar, and then you have to see whether you're making sweet-and-sour pork or West Lake-style fish. And then you have to look at--