The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

尾大不掉

wěi dà bù diàodictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
large tail obstructs action (idiom) / bottom heavy / fig. rendered ineffective by subordinates
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-94163af467d476e8. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

尾大不掉 尾大不掉 [wei3 da4 bu4 diao4] /large tail obstructs action (idiom); bottom heavy/fig. rendered ineffective by subordinates/

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.

  • 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

  • 大
    dà

    big / large / great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐[dà jiě]) / greatly / freely / fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother)

    dài

    see 大夫[dài fu]

  • 不
    bù

    no / not so / (bound form) not / un-

  • 掉
    diào

    to fall / to drop / to lag behind / to lose / to go missing / to reduce / fall (in prices) / to lose (value, weight etc) / to wag / to swing / to turn / to change / to exchange / to swap / to show off / to shed (hair) / (used after certain verbs to express completion, fulfillment, removal etc)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.