口に蜜あり腹に剣あり Entry Discussion Citations Language Download PDF Watch Edit Japanese edit Kanji in this term 口 蜜 腹 剣 くち Grade: 1 みつ Grade: S はら Grade: 6 けん Grade: S kun'yomi goon kun'yomi kan'on Alternative spelling 口に蜜あり腹に劍あり (kyūjitai) Etymology edit Literally, “where there is a mouth of honey, there is a sword in the belly.” Calque of Literary Chinese 口密腹劍.

Proverb edit 口くちに蜜みつあり腹はらに剣けんあり • (kuchi ni mitsu ari hara ni ken ari)

Beneath sweet words lurks venom. References edit “口に蜜(ミツ)あり腹に剣あり”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025 Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN