世故

Chinese

		life; age; generation life; age; generation; era; world; lifetime	happening; instance; reason happening; instance; reason; cause; deceased; old
simp. and trad. (世故)		世	故
anagram		故世

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shìgù

  (Zhuyin): ㄕˋ ㄍㄨˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sai³ gu³
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sè-kò͘ / sì-kò͘

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shìgù → shìgu (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄕˋ ㄍㄨˋ → ㄕˋ ˙ㄍㄨ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shìhgů
    • Wade–Giles: shih⁴-ku⁵
    • Yale: shr̀-gu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyh.guh
    • Palladius: шигу (šigu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ ku⁵¹/ → /ʂʐ̩⁵¹ g̊u¹/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 世故 事故

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sai³ gu³
    • Yale: sai gu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sai³ gu³
    • Guangdong Romanization: sei³ gu³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐi̯³³ kuː³³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sè-kò͘
    • Tâi-lô: sè-kòo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sea'kox
    • IPA (Xiamen): /se²¹⁻⁵³ kɔ²¹/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /se⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ kɔ⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sì-kò͘
    • Tâi-lô: sì-kòo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sie'kox
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /si²¹⁻⁵³ kɔ²¹/

Noun

世故

1. ways of the world
2. (archaic) livelihood
3. (archaic) accident; mishap
4. (archaic) turmoil; social upheaval caused by war
5. (archaic) longstanding friendship between two families; generations of family friendship

Synonyms

• (livelihood):

edit

• 生活 (shēnghuó)
• 生涯 (shēngyá)
• 生產／生产 (shēngchǎn) (archaic)
• 生計／生计 (shēngjì)
• 生路 (shēnglù)
• 飯碗／饭碗 (fànwǎn) (figurative, informal)

 

Adjective

世故

1. shrewd; canny; slick and sly

Synonyms

edit

• 刁 (diāo)
• 刁滑 (diāohuá)
• 刁鑽／刁钻 (diāozuān)
• 刁頑／刁顽 (diāowán) (literary, cunning and stubborn)
• 即世 (jíshì) (literary)
• 圓泛／圆泛 (yenn² fan⁴) (Xiang)
• 圓滑／圆滑 (yuánhuá)
• 圞泛／𪢮泛 (lonn² fan⁴) (Xiang)
• 奸宄 (Hokkien)
• 奸巧 (Hokkien)
• 奸狡
• 奸猾 (jiānhuá)
• 奸險 (jiānxiǎn)
• 姦刁／奸刁 (¹ke-tiau) (Wu)
• 姦詐／奸诈 (jiānzhà)
• 油滑 (yóuhuá)
• 滑
• 滑頭／滑头 (huátóu)
• 狡怪 (káu-koài) (Hokkien)
• 狡猾 (jiǎohuá)
• 狡獪／狡狯 (jiǎokuài) (literary)
• 狡詐／狡诈 (jiǎozhà)
• 狡鬼 (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 狡黠 (jiǎoxiá) (literary)
• 詭詐／诡诈 (guǐzhà)
• 調皮／调皮 (tiáopí)
• 陰濕／阴湿 (jam¹ sap¹) (Cantonese)
• 陰險／阴险 (yīnxiǎn)
• 頑惡／顽恶 (wánwù) (literary)

 

Derived terms

• 人情世故 (rénqíngshìgù)
• 老於世故／老于世故 (lǎoyúshìgù)
• 飽經世故／饱经世故