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出风头 (chū fēng tou) — to show off, to seek the limelight, to push oneself forward

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning 'to show off, seek attention'. Often carries a negative tone — the person is being annoyingly self-promoting, not just being confident.

verb
to show offto seek the limelightto push oneself forward

Examples

  • 出风头。
    Tā xǐ huan zài péng you miàn qián chū fēng tou.
    He likes to show off in front of friends.
  • 。
    Tā zài zuó tiān de jù huì shàng chū le bù shǎo fēng tou.
    He showed off quite a bit at yesterday's party.
  • 出风头，。
    Bié chū fēng tou le, méi rén huì zhù yì nǐ.
    Stop showing off, no one will notice you.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

出chūshow
风头limelight
风fēngwind头tóuhead
偏正Modifier + head

出 means show and 风头 means limelight, together describing showing off.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

出 combines 止 (foot) and 凵 (cave) to show a foot stepping out of a cave.

Open 出 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
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