評頭論足

简 评头论足 · 繁 評頭論足
Mandarin · pinyin píng tóu lùn zú

Meanings

  1. lit. to assess the head and discuss the feet (idiom); minute criticism of a woman's appearance
  2. fig. to find fault in minor details
  3. to remark upon a person's appearance
  4. nitpicking
  5. overcritical
  6. judgmental
Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

評
Look up this written character
頭
tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
論
Look up this written character
足
zú · foot; attain, satisfy, enough; Kangxi radical 156
评
píng · appraise, criticize, evaluate
头
tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
论
lùn · debate; discuss; discourse
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–2–4–2 · ping2 tou2 lun4 zu2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character 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.

評頭論足 · find source passages ↗ · 评头论足 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

評頭論足 · ping2 tou2 lun4 zu2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 100,910
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record評頭論足 评头论足 [ping2 tou2 lun4 zu2] /lit. to assess the head and discuss the feet (idiom); minute criticism of a woman's appearance/fig. to find fault in minor details/to remark upon a person's appearance/nitpicking/overcritical/judgmental/