人心不足蛇吞象
Meanings
- a man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant (idiom)
Characters in this entry
- 人
- rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
- 心
- xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
- 不
- bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
- 足
- zú · foot; attain, satisfy, enough; Kangxi radical 156
- 蛇
- shé · snake
- 吞
- tūn · swallow; absorb, annex, engulf
- 象
- xiàng · elephant; ivory; figure, image
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2–1–4–2–2–1–4 · ren2 xin1 bu4 zu2 she2 tun1 xiang4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
Read this spelling in Classical texts
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.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
jan4 sam1 bat1 zuk1 se4 tan1 zoeng6
Cantonese word readings for 人心不足蛇吞象. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (idiomatic) Being discontent is like a snake swallowing an elephant.
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack