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摸不著頭腦

简摸不着头脑 · 繁摸不著頭腦

Mandarin · pinyin mō bu zháo tóu nǎo

to be unable to make any sense of the matter
to be at a loss

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Characters in this entry

摸: mō · gently touch with hand; caress
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
著: zhù · zhe · manifest; (Cant.) to wear
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
腦: Look up this written character
着: zhe · make move, take action
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
脑: nǎo · brain

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

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Mandarin tones

1–5–2–2–3 · mo1 bu5 zhao2 tou2 nao3

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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.

摸不著頭腦 · find source passages ↗ · 摸不着头脑 · find source passages ↗

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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

(idiomatic) to be unable make head or tail of something

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

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