虎 父 无 犬 子

hǔ fù wú quǎn zǐdictionary entry

lit. father a lion, son cannot be a dog (honorific) / With a distinguished father such as you, the son is sure to do well. / like father, like son

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-27ac63d7acd22289. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

虎父無犬子 虎父无犬子 [hu3 fu4 wu2 quan3 zi3] /lit. father a lion, son cannot be a dog (honorific); With a distinguished father such as you, the son is sure to do well./like father, like son/

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: 虎父無犬子

虎
hǔ
tiger / CL:隻|只[zhī]
父
fù
(bound form) father / (bound form) male relative of father's generation (as in 伯父[bó fù]) / (computing) (bound form) parent-
无
mó
used in 南無|南无[nā mó]
wú
not to have / no / none / not / to lack / un- / -less
犬
quǎn
(literary) dog / Kangxi radical 94
子
zǐ
son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat / viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi] / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary / subordinate / (prefix) sub-
zi
noun suffix, as in 椅子[yǐ zi] "chair"

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.