DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
寧做雞頭，不做鳳尾
简 宁做鸡头，不做凤尾 · 繁 寧做雞頭，不做鳳尾Mandarin · pinyin nìng zuò jī tóu , bù zuò fèng wěi
Meanings
- lit. would rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail (idiom)
- fig. to prefer to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond
Characters in this entry
- 寧
- Look up this written character
- 做
- zuò · work, make; act
- 雞
- jī · chickens; domestic fowl
- 頭
- tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
- 不
- bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
- 鳳
- Look up this written character
- 尾
- wěi · tail, extremity; end, stern; 6th lunar mansion, determinative star μ¹ Scorpii (Xamidimura)
- 宁
- níng · calm, peaceful, serene; healthy
- 鸡
- jī · chicken
- 头
- tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
- 凤
- fèng · male phoenix; symbol of joy
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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading
ning4 zou6 gai1 tau4, bat1 zou6 fung6 mei5
Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.