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有頭無尾

简有头无尾 · 繁有頭無尾

Mandarin · pinyin yǒu tóu wú wěi

(idiom) to fail to finish off what one started

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Characters in this entry

有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
無: Look up this written character
尾: wěi · tail, extremity; end, stern; 6th lunar mansion, determinative star μ¹ Scorpii (Xamidimura)
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–2–3 · you3 tou2 wu2 wei3

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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.

有頭無尾 · find source passages ↗ · 有头无尾 · 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 have a beginning but not an end; to fail to carry things through; to leave something unfinished; to have begun but not well-ended; to not have spoken or done something to the point

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

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