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摸不著頭腦

简摸不着头脑 · 繁摸不著頭腦

Mandarin · pinyin mō bu zháo tóu nǎo

to be unable to make any sense of the matter
to be at a loss

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Characters in this entry

摸: mō · gently touch with hand; caress
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
著: zhù · zhe · manifest; (Cant.) to wear
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
腦: Look up this written character
着: zhe · make move, take action
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
脑: nǎo · brain

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

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Mandarin tones

1–5–2–2–3 · mo1 bu5 zhao2 tou2 nao3

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

mo2 bat1 zoek6 tau4 nou5

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to be unable make head or tail of something

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

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