King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Chinese symbol for “duplicity”

口是心非
kǒu shì xīn fēi
duplicity; hypocrisy (idiom)

The closest CC-CEDICT match for duplicity is 口是心非 (kǒu shì xīn fēi), defined as: duplicity; hypocrisy (idiom).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Characters and stroke order

口 kǒu
mouth; entrance, gate, opening
radical 30 ⼝ · 3 strokes
是 shì
to be; indeed, right, yes; okay
radical 72 ⽇ · 9 strokes
心 xīn
heart; mind; soul
radical 61 ⼼ · 4 strokes
非 fēi
not, negative, non-; to oppose
radical 175 ⾮ · 8 strokes

Other Chinese words for “duplicity”

WordPinyinMeaning
二心èr xīndisloyalty; half-heartedness

Related words

Other words that share a character with 口是心非.

WordPinyinMeaning
人口rén kǒupopulation; people
出口chū kǒuan exit; 个 (gè)
进口 (進口)jìn kǒuto import; imported
口号 (口號)kǒu hàoslogan; catchphrase
门口 (門口)mén kǒudoorway; gate
入口rù kǒuentrance; to import
不是bù shìno; is not
就是jiù shìexactly; precisely; only; simply; just
中心zhōng xīncenter; heart; core
非常fēi chángvery; really; unusual; extraordinary

See also: Japanese symbol for “duplicity”.

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.

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