Chinese word dictionary

无头苍蝇

wú tóu cāng ying · headless fly (a metaphor for sb who is rushing around frantically)

Practice word

Word information

Simplified无头苍蝇

Traditional無頭蒼蠅

Pinyinwú tóu cāng ying

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

无wú

no, not; lacking, -less

头tóu

head; chief, boss; first, top

苍cāng

dark blue; deep green; old, hoary

蝇yíng

fly, musca

How to learn 无头苍蝇

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

hair (on the head)

to nod

steamed bun

to raise one's head; to look up; (fig.) to begin to emerge; to show signs of growth; (commerce) account name, or space for writing the name on checks, bills etc

头痛tóutòng

to have a headache

无法wúfǎ

unable to; incapable of