DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
關公面前耍大刀
简 关公面前耍大刀 · 繁 關公面前耍大刀Mandarin · pinyin Guān gōng miàn qián shuǎ dà dāo
Meanings
- lit. to wield the broadsword in the presence of Lord Guan (idiom)
- fig. to make a fool of oneself by showing off in front of an expert
Characters in this entry
- 關
- Look up this written character
- 公
- gōng · fair, equitable; public; duke
- 面
- miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
- 前
- qián · in front, forward; preceding
- 耍
- shuǎ · frolic, play, amuse, play with
- 大
- dà · big, great, vast, large, high
- 刀
- dāo · knife; old coin; measure
- 关
- guān · frontier pass; close; relation
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
1–1–4–2–3–4–1 · Guan1 gong1 mian4 qian2 shua3 da4 dao1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
7character links
Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (figurative) to show off in front of an expert
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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