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井底之蛙

Mandarin · pinyin jǐng dǐ zhī wā

(lit.) a frog at the bottom of a well (idiom)
(fig.) a person of limited outlook and experience

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Characters in this entry

井: jǐng · well, mine shaft, pit; surname; 22nd lunar mansion, determinative star μ Geminorum (Tejat); hexagram ䷯
底: dǐ · bottom, underneath, underside
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
蛙: wā · frog

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–1 · jing3 di3 zhi1 wa1

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zeng2 dai2 zi1 waa1

Cantonese word readings for 井底之蛙. 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

(idiomatic) a “frog in a well”, a person of very limited outlook and experience

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

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