若 ruò

1. ruò verb to seem; to be like; as
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: Middle Chinese: nyak; 若 was used as a verb in this sense, as well as other senses, in literary Chinese (ABC 'ruò' 若 v; Pulleyblank 1995, p. 90; Kroll 2015 '若' 1; GHC '若' 5).
2. ruò adverb seemingly
   Domain: Modern Chinese 现代汉语 , Subdomain: Function Words
   Notes: (ABC 'ruò' 若 adv)
3. ruò conjunction if
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: 若 is used as a subordinating conjunction in this sense in Literary Chinese (ABC 'ruò' 若 conj; Pulleyblank 1995, p. 90, 150; Kroll 2015 '若' 2; GHC '若' 9).
4. ruò pronoun you
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: 若 was also used as a singular second person pronoun in Classical Chinese (ABC 'ruò' 若 pronoun; Pulleyblank 1995, p. 77; Kroll 2015 '若' 6; GHC '若' 7).
5. ruò pronoun this; that
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: (Kroll 2015 '若' 4; GHC '若' 8)
6. ruò conjunction and; or
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: (Kroll 2015 '若' 8; GHC '若' 10, 11, 12, 13)
7. ruò conjunction as for; pertaining to
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: (Kroll 2015 '若' 5)
8. rě noun pomegranite
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文 , Concept: Fruit 水果
   Notes: As in 若榴 rěliu (Kroll 2015 '若' rě 2)
9. ruò verb to choose
   Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
   Notes: In the sense of 选择 (GHC '若' 1)
10. ruò verb to agree; to accord with; to conform to
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: 若 was used sometimes in this sense in preclassical Chinese. This sense is similar in meaning to 顺从 (Pulleyblank 1995, p. 90; Kroll 2015 '若' 2; GHC '若' 2).
11. ruò adverb thus
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: 若 was used sometimes as an adverb in this sense in preclassical Chinese (Pulleyblank 1995, p. 90).
12. ruò noun pollia
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文 , Concept: Herb 香草
    Notes: The name of the herb 杜若 (Kroll 2015 '若' 9; GHC '若' 3)
13. ruò noun Ruo
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文 , Concept: Deity 神
    Notes: The name of the sea god (GHC '若' 4)
14. ruò adverb only then
    Domain: Literary Chinese 文言文
    Notes: In the sense of 乃 or 才(GHC '若' 14)

Contained in

• 安若泰山 as stable as Taishan
• 泰然自若 calm and composed
• 受宠若惊(受寵若驚) overwhelmed by favor from superior (humble expr.)
• 大勇若怯，大智若愚 a great hero may appear timid, the wise may appear stupid
• 寥若晨星 rare as morning stars; few and far between; sparse
• 若是 if ; so; in this way; such
• 如若 if
• 怅然若失(悵然若失) perplexed; frustrated
• 莫若 nothing is better than
• 若翰 John
• 惘然若失 to be frustrated as though having lost something; to be at a loss; perplexed; frustrated
• 若非 were it not for; if not for
• 若干 a certain number or amount of ; Ruogan
• 呆若木鸡(呆若木雞) dumb as a wooden chicken; dumbstruck
• 灿若繁星(燦若繁星) bright as a multitude of stars; extremely able talent
• 昭然若揭 abundantly clear
• 若且唯若 if and only if
• 若有若无(若有若無) indistinct; faintly discernible
• 视若无睹(視若無睹) to look but not see; to neglect
• 欣喜若狂 to be wild with joy
• 自若 to be self composed
• 冷若冰霜 as cold as ice and frost (idiom, usually of woman); icy manner; frigid
• 置若罔闻(置若罔聞) to hear but forget to listen; to neglect
• 静若寒蝉(靜若寒蟬) as quiet as a cicada in winter
• 终始若一(終始若一) unchanging from start to finish
• 视若路人(視若路人) to view as strangers
• 虚怀若谷(虛懷若谷) receptive as an echoing canyon; modest and open-minded
• 趋之若鹜(趨之若鶩) to rush like ducks; the mob scrabbles madly for something unobtainable
• 假假若是 if; supposing that...
• 难若登天(難若登天) as difficult as climbing to the sky
• 了若指掌(瞭若指掌) to understand as [clearly as] pointing to the palm of the hand
• 判若两人(判若兩人) to be a different person; not to be one's usual self
• 至若 as for
• 进道若退(進道若退) entering the Way, you seem to coil back
• 固若金汤(固若金湯) secure as a city protected by a wall of metal and a moat of boiling water; well fortified
• 恍若 as if; as though; rather like
• 大勇若怯 a great hero may appear timid; the really brave person remains level-headed
• 大智若愚 great understanding may appear to be like stupidity
• 倘若 if; provided that; supposing that
• 不若 not as good as ; not good
• 设若(設若) if
• 治大国若烹小鲜(治大國若烹小鮮) ruling a large nation is like cooking a small delicacy
• 若无其事(若無其事) as if nothing had happened; calmly; nonchalantly
• 弃若敝屣(棄若敝屣) to throw away like worn out shoes
• 杜若 pollia
• 料敌若神(料敵若神) to measure the enemy like a god; to assess a situation very well

Also contained in

若尔盖 、 复丘若泰 、 王钦若 、 郭沫若 、 张若虚

Word is mentioned most frequently in

Truncated for common words

• 昭公 Lord Zhao The Commentary of Zuo on the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋左氏傳 — count: 160
• Daode Jing 《道德經》 Daode Jing 道德經 — count: 103
• 襄公 Lord Xiang The Commentary of Zuo on the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋左氏傳 — count: 96
• 卷二百八十三 列傳第四十二 王欽若 林特 丁謂 夏竦 Volume 283 Biographies 42: Wang Qinruo, Lin Te, Ding Wei, Xia Song History of Song 宋史 — count: 69
• 卷十八 Scroll 18 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 69
• 卷十九 Scroll 19 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 69
• 卷七十五 志第二十八 律曆八 Volume 75 Treatises 28: Measures and Calendar 8 History of Song 宋史 — count: 64
• 哀公 Lord Ai The Commentary of Zuo on the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋左氏傳 — count: 59
• 卷十七 Scroll 17 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 59
• 卷四十二 Scroll 42 Wenxuan 文選 — count: 57