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Chinese/Dictionary entry

男怕入错行，女怕嫁错郎

nán pà rù cuò háng , nǚ pà jià cuò lángdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
men fear getting into the wrong line of business, women fear marrying the wrong man (proverb)
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-2746546e0cb108ac. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

男怕入錯行，女怕嫁錯郎 男怕入错行，女怕嫁错郎 [nan2 pa4 ru4 cuo4 hang2 , nu:3 pa4 jia4 cuo4 lang2] /men fear getting into the wrong line of business, women fear marrying the wrong man (proverb)/

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: 男怕入錯行，女怕嫁錯郎

  • 男
    nán

    (bound form) male / baron, the lowest of the five ranks of nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi]

  • 怕
    pà

    to be afraid / to fear / to dread / to be unable to endure / perhaps

    Pà

    surname Pa

  • 入
    rù

    to enter / to go into / to join / to become a member of / (bound form) to conform to (as in 入時|入时[rù shí]) / abbr. for 入聲|入声[rù shēng] / (on product packaging, after {number n} + {classifier}) containing (n pieces) (from Japanese 入 "iri")

  • 错
    cuò

    mistake / wrong / bad / interlocking / complex / to grind / to polish / to alternate / to stagger / to miss / to let slip / to evade / to inlay with gold or silver

    Cuò

    surname Cuo

  • 行
    háng

    (bound form) row / line / (bound form) line of business / trade / profession / (bound form) commercial firm / (bound form) to rank (first, second etc) among one's siblings (by age) / (in data tables) row / (Tw) column / classifier for rows or lines

    héng

    used in 道行[dào héng]

    xíng

    (bound form) to walk / to go / to travel / (literary) trip / journey / visit / (bound form) temporary / makeshift / (bound form) current / in circulation / (bound form) to do / to perform / capable / competent / all right / OK! / will do / behavior / conduct (Taiwan pr. [xìng]) / (literary) about to / soon

  • 女
    nǚ

    female / woman / daughter

    rǔ

    See the full entry for source details.

  • 怕
    pà

    to be afraid / to fear / to dread / to be unable to endure / perhaps

    Pà

    surname Pa

  • 嫁
    jià

    (of a woman) to marry / to marry off a daughter / to shift (blame etc)

  • 错
    cuò

    mistake / wrong / bad / interlocking / complex / to grind / to polish / to alternate / to stagger / to miss / to let slip / to evade / to inlay with gold or silver

    Cuò

    surname Cuo

  • 郎
    láng

    (arch.) minister / official / noun prefix denoting function or status / a youth

    Láng

    surname Lang

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.