feign madness; pretend to be insane
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesverb
to feign madness; to pretend to be insane; to act crazy
archaicOften used in historical or literary contexts to describe someone pretending to be mad to avoid danger, political persecution, or to test others. The character 佯 means 'to feign' or 'to pretend'.
Jī箕
zǐ子
yáng佯
kuáng狂
wéi为
nú奴
，
yǐ以
bì避
Zhòu纣
wáng王
zhī之
hài害
。
Jizi feigned madness and became a slave to avoid harm from King Zhou.
Tā他
wèi为
bì避
shì世
ér而
yáng佯
kuáng狂
，
zhōng终
rì日
zuì醉
wò卧
jiē街
tóu头
。
He pretended to be mad to avoid worldly affairs, spending his days drunk in the streets.
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Ruǎn阮
Jí籍
yáng佯
kuáng狂
yǐ以
bì避
zhèng政
zhì治
fēn纷
zhēng争
。
Ruan Ji feigned madness to avoid political strife.