Dictionary › 拐弯抹角

拐弯抹角

guǎi wān mò jiǎo

4-character word Traditional 拐彎抹角

What 拐弯抹角 means

1. lit. going round the curves and skirting the corners (idiom)
2. fig. to speak in a roundabout way
3. to equivocate
4. to beat about the bush

The characters in 拐弯抹角

• 拐guǎito turn (a corner etc); to kidnap; to swindle
• 弯wānto bend; bent; a bend; a turn (in a road etc)
• 抹mǒto smear; to wipe; to erase
• 角jiǎoangle; corner; horn

Example sentences

• 不要拐弯抹角。
  Bù yào guǎiwānmòjiǎo.
  Don't beat around the bush.

Go deeper

• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read guǎi wān mò jiǎo correctly.
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