有頭無尾

Chinese

		to have; there is; there are to have; there is; there are; to exist; to be	head; (noun suffix)	not have	tail
trad. (有頭無尾)		有	頭	無	尾
simp. (有头无尾)		有	头	无	尾
Literally: “there is a head, but no tail”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǒutóuwúwěi

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄡˇ ㄊㄡˊ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jau⁵ tau⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): ū-thâu bô-bé

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǒutóuwúwěi
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄡˇ ㄊㄡˊ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǒutóuwúwěi
    • Wade–Giles: yu³-tʻou²-wu²-wei³
    • Yale: yǒu-tóu-wú-wěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeoutourwuwoei
    • Palladius: ютоуувэй (jutouuvɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /joʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ u³⁵ weɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jau⁵ tau⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵
    • Yale: yáuh tàuh mòuh méih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jau⁵ tau⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: yeo⁵ teo⁴ mou⁴ méi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐu̯¹³ tʰɐu̯²¹ mou̯²¹ mei̯¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ū-thâu bô-bé
    • Tâi-lô: ū-thâu bô-bé
    • Phofsit Daibuun: uxtaau boi'bea
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /u³³⁻²¹ tʰau²³⁻³³ bɤ²³⁻³³ be⁴¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /u³³⁻¹¹ tʰau²⁴⁻¹¹ bo²⁴⁻¹¹ be⁵³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /u²²⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴⁻²² bo²⁴⁻²² be⁵³/

Idiom

有頭無尾

1. to have a beginning but not an end; to fail to carry things through; to leave something unfinished; to have begun but not well-ended; to not have spoken or done something to the point

Synonyms

• 有始無終／有始无终 (yǒushǐwúzhōng)
• 虎頭蛇尾／虎头蛇尾 (hǔtóushéwěi)

Antonyms

• 無頭無尾／无头无尾 (wútóuwúwěi)
• 有頭有尾／有头有尾 (yǒutóuyǒuwěi)
• 有始有終／有始有终 (yǒushǐyǒuzhōng)