DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

小時了了，大未必佳

简小时了了，大未必佳 · 繁小時了了，大未必佳

Mandarin · pinyin xiǎo shí liǎo liǎo , dà wèi bì jiā

being bright at an early age does not necessarily bring success upon growing up (proverb)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
時: shí · time, season; era, age, period
了: le · to finish; particle of completed action
大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
未: wèi · not yet; eighth earthly branch
必: bì · surely, most certainly; must
佳: jiā · good, auspicious; beautiful; delightful
时: shí · time, season; era, age, period

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

Explore the spelling

Connected dictionary

8character 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.

小時了了，大未必佳 · find source passages ↗ · 小时了了，大未必佳 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗