畏首畏尾

Chinese

		to fear	head; chief; first (occasion) head; chief; first (occasion); first (thing); measure word for poems	to fear	tail
simp. and trad. (畏首畏尾)		畏	首	畏	尾
Literally: “to be afraid of the head, terrified of the tail”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wèishǒuwèiwěi

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄟˋ ㄕㄡˇ ㄨㄟˋ ㄨㄟˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): wai³ sau² wai³ mei⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wèishǒuwèiwěi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄟˋ ㄕㄡˇ ㄨㄟˋ ㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wèishǒuwèiwěi
    • Wade–Giles: wei⁴-shou³-wei⁴-wei³
    • Yale: wèi-shǒu-wèi-wěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: weyshoouweywoei
    • Palladius: вэйшоувэйвэй (vɛjšouvɛjvɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /weɪ̯⁵¹ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ weɪ̯⁵¹ weɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: wai³ sau² wai³ mei⁵
    • Yale: wai sáu wai méih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: wai³ sau² wai³ mei⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: wei³ seo² wei³ méi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɐi̯³³ sɐu̯³⁵ wɐi̯³³ mei̯¹³/

Idiom

畏首畏尾

1. to be afraid of the slightest thing; ever fearful and nervous; to be full of misgivings; to be overcautious

Synonyms

• 畏頭畏尾／畏头畏尾