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上頭

简上头 · 繁上頭

Mandarin · pinyin shàng tóu#

(of alcohol, love etc) to go to one's head; (of an idea, a song etc) to get into one's head; to capture one's attention
(old) (of a girl on her wedding day) to start wearing one's hair in a bun (rather than a plait)

Mandarin · pinyin shàng tou#

the top; the upper part; (its) surface
the authorities; those in charge; the higher-ups

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Characters in this entry

上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2 · shang4 tou2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

上頭 · find source passages ↗ · 上头 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 11 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

soeng6 tau4

Cantonese word readings for 上頭. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

higher authorities
aspect; respect

postp

above; over; on

adv

(Xiamen and Zhangzhou Hokkien) initially; at first

noun

(literary or Xiamen and Zhangzhou Hokkien) front

noun

(dated) combing of a bride's hair in a bun for marriage
(historical) binding of one's hair to signify coming of age (women get a hairpin at the age of fifteen and men get a hat at the age of twenty)
(Quanzhou Hokkien) a kind of coming-of-age ceremony for the bride and groom the day before their marriage

verb

(literary or Hokkien, of a woman) to get married

verb

(of alcohol or drugs) to go to one's head; to be heady
(neologism, slang) to be excited, addicted or not thinking clearly (as a consequence of watching a drama or novel)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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