DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

土頭土腦

简土头土脑 · 繁土頭土腦

Mandarin · pinyin tǔ tóu tǔ nǎo

rustic
uncouth
unsophisticated

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

土: tǔ · soil, earth; items made of earth
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
腦: Look up this written character
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
脑: nǎo · brain

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–2–3–3 · tu3 tou2 tu3 nao3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

土頭土腦 · find source passages ↗ · 土头土脑 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tou2 tau4 tou2 nou5

Cantonese word readings for 土頭土腦. 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) acting and/or dressing rustically

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

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