DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

眾矢之的

简众矢之的 · 繁眾矢之的

Mandarin · pinyin zhòng shǐ zhī dì

lit. target of a multitude of arrows (idiom); the butt of public criticism
attacked on all sides

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

眾: Look up this written character
矢: shǐ · arrow, dart; vow, swear
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
的: de · possessive, adjectival suffix
众: zhòng · multitude, crowd; masses, public

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–3–1–4 · zhong4 shi3 zhi1 di4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character 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.

眾矢之的 · find source passages ↗ · 众矢之的 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) a common target of criticism or attack by everyone

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

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