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见风使舵

jiàn fēng shǐ duòdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. see the wind and set the helm (idiom) / fig. to act pragmatically / to be flexible and take advantage of the situation
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-f6579ba00915ed05. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

見風使舵 见风使舵 [jian4 feng1 shi3 duo4] /lit. see the wind and set the helm (idiom); fig. to act pragmatically/to be flexible and take advantage of the situation/

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: 見風使舵

  • 见
    jiàn

    to see / to meet / to appear (to be sth) / to interview / opinion / view

    xiàn

    to appear / also written 現|现[xiàn]

  • 风
    fēng

    wind / news / style / custom / manner / CL:陣|阵[zhèn],絲|丝[sī]

  • 使
    shǐ

    to make / to cause / to enable / to use / to employ / to send / to instruct sb to do sth / envoy / messenger

  • 舵
    duò

    helm / rudder

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.