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虎头蛇尾

hǔ tóu shé wěidictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. tiger's head, snake's tail (idiom) / fig. a strong start but weak finish
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-4c314d87c563b492. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

虎頭蛇尾 虎头蛇尾 [hu3 tou2 she2 wei3] /lit. tiger's head, snake's tail (idiom); fig. a strong start but weak finish/

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: 虎頭蛇尾

  • 虎
    hǔ

    tiger / CL:隻|只[zhī]

  • 头
    tóu

    head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:個|个[gè]

    tou

    suffix for nouns

  • 蛇
    shé

    snake / serpent / CL:條|条[tiáo]

    yí

    used in 委蛇[wēi yí]

  • 尾
    wěi

    tail / remainder / remnant / extremity / sixth of the 28 constellations / classifier for fish

    yǐ

    horse's tail / pointed posterior section of a locust etc

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.