高 不 成 低 不 就

gāo bù chéng dī bù jiùdictionary entry

can't reach the high or accept the low (idiom); not good enough for a high post, but too proud to take a low one

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-b38b8aa19d6261e1. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

高不成低不就 高不成低不就 [gao1 bu4 cheng2 di1 bu4 jiu4] /can't reach the high or accept the low (idiom); not good enough for a high post, but too proud to take a low one/

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Reference information

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

Character information

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Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.