DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

大才小用

Mandarin · pinyin dà cái xiǎo yòng

variant of 大材小用 dà cái xiǎo yòng

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
才: cái · talent, ability; just, only
小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
用: yòng · use, employ, apply, operate; use

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–2–3–4 · da4 cai2 xiao3 yong4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links1same-tone record1source reference

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.

大才小用 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

daai6 coi4 siu2 jung6

Cantonese word readings for 大才小用. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack