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灰頭土臉

简灰头土脸 · 繁灰頭土臉

Mandarin · pinyin huī tóu tǔ liǎn

head and face filthy with grime (idiom)
covered in dirt
dejected and depressed

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Characters in this entry

灰: huī · ashes; dust; lime, mortar
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
土: tǔ · soil, earth; items made of earth
臉: liǎn · face; cheek; reputation
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
脸: liǎn · face; cheek; reputation

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–3–3 · hui1 tou2 tu3 lian3

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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.

灰頭土臉 · find source passages ↗ · 灰头土脸 · find source passages ↗

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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 look despondent; to look dejected

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

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