才高八斗

Mandarin · pinyin cái gāo bā dǒu

Meanings

  1. (idiom) of great talent
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Characters in this entry

才
cái · talent, ability; just, only
高
gāo · high, tall; lofty, elevated; Kangxi radical 189
八
bā · eight; all around, all sides
斗
dòu · dǒu · a dipper; unit of volume (ten 升 or litres); Kangxi radical 68; 8th lunar mansion, determinative star φ Sagittarii
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–1–1–3 · cai2 gao1 ba1 dou3

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

coi4 gou1 baat3 dau2

Cantonese word readings for 才高八斗. 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.

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) of great talent

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

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