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畏首畏尾

Mandarin · pinyin wèi shǒu wèi wěi

afraid of the head, terrified of the tail (idiom); ever fearful and nervous
afraid of the slightest thing

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Characters in this entry

畏: wèi · fear, dread, awe, reverence
首: shǒu · head; first; leader, chief; a poem; Kangxi radical 185
尾: wěi · tail, extremity; end, stern; 6th lunar mansion, determinative star μ¹ Scorpii (Xamidimura)

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–3 · wei4 shou3 wei4 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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

wai3 sau2 wai3 mei5

Cantonese word readings for 畏首畏尾. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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 be afraid of the slightest thing; ever fearful and nervous; to be full of misgivings; to be overcautious

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

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