DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

抬頭不見低頭見

简抬头不见低头见 · 繁抬頭不見低頭見

Mandarin · pinyin tái tóu bù jiàn dī tóu jiàn

(idiom) (of people in a small town etc) to cross paths regularly

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

抬: tái · lift, carry
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
見: jiàn · see, observe, behold; perceive; Kangxi radical 147
低: dī · low; to lower, hang, bend, bow
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
见: jiàn · see, observe, behold; perceive

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4–1–2–4 · tai2 tou2 bu4 jian4 di1 tou2 jian4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

7character 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.

抬頭不見低頭見 · find source passages ↗ · 抬头不见低头见 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(colloquial) to meet often

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

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