茅塞頓開

简 茅塞顿开 · 繁 茅塞頓開
Mandarin · pinyin máo sè dùn kāi

Meanings

  1. murky darkness suddenly opens (idiom); a sudden flash of insight and all is clear
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

茅
máo · reeds, rushes, grass; surname
塞
sāi · stop up, block, seal, cork; pass, frontier; fortress
頓
Look up this written character
開
kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
顿
dùn · pause, stop; bow, kowtow; arrange
开
kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–4–4–1 · mao2 se4 dun4 kai1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links
Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

maau4 sak1 deon6 hoi1

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

  1. (idiomatic) to be enlightened all of a sudden; to come to the realization all of a sudden

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

茅塞頓開 · mao2 se4 dun4 kai1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 93,916
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record茅塞頓開 茅塞顿开 [mao2 se4 dun4 kai1] /murky darkness suddenly opens (idiom); a sudden flash of insight and all is clear/