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小巫見大巫

简小巫见大巫 · 繁小巫見大巫

Mandarin · pinyin xiǎo wū jiàn dà wū

lit. minor magician in the presence of a great one (idiom)
fig. to pale into insignificance by comparison

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Characters in this entry

小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
巫: wū · wizard, sorcerer, witch, shaman
見: jiàn · see, observe, behold; perceive; Kangxi radical 147
大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
见: jiàn · see, observe, behold; perceive

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–4–4–1 · xiao3 wu1 jian4 da4 wu1

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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.

小巫見大巫 · find source passages ↗ · 小巫见大巫 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

siu2 mou4 gin3 daai6 mou4

Cantonese word readings for 小巫見大巫. 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) to pale in comparison

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

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