思 前 想 后

sī qián xiǎng hòudictionary entry

to consider past cause and future effect (idiom) / to think over the past and future / to ponder over reasons and connection

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-053f1361294b1215. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

思前想後 思前想后 [si1 qian2 xiang3 hou4] /to consider past cause and future effect (idiom); to think over the past and future/to ponder over reasons and connection/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 思前想後

思
sī
to think / to consider
前
qián
front / forward / ahead / first / top (followed by a number) / future / ago / before / BC (e.g. 前293年) / former / formerly
想
xiǎng
to think (about) / to think of / to devise / to think (that) / to believe (that) / to desire / to want (to) / to miss (feel wistful about the absence of)
后
hòu
empress / queen / (archaic) monarch / ruler / back / behind / rear / afterwards / after / later / post-
Hòu
surname Hou

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.