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小巫见大巫 (xiǎo wū jiàn dà wū) — to be dwarfed; to pale in comparison

Definition

An idiom meaning 'the small shaman meets the great shaman' — one side is so much weaker that it pales by comparison. Use when A is clearly outclassed by B.

idiom
to be dwarfedto pale in comparison

Examples

  • ，小巫见大巫。
    Tā de huà gēn zhuān jiā bǐ, zhēn shì xiǎo wū jiàn dà wū.
    His painting really pales in comparison with an expert's.
  • ，小巫见大巫。
    Zhè ge xiǎo chéng shì de míng rén, dào le běi jīng jiù chéng le xiǎo wū jiàn dà wū.
    This small-town celebrity becomes overshadowed once in Beijing.
  • ，小巫见大巫。
    Wǒ de yīng yǔ chéng jì hé tā bǐ, wán quán shì xiǎo wū jiàn dà wū.
    My English score is completely dwarfed by his.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 巫 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 見; 见 is its simplified writing.

  • 目目mùeye
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The traditional form 見 pairs 目 (eye) with 卩 (kneeling person), showing a kneeling figure with a large eye for a head. The simplified 见 is a later shorthand.

Open 见 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 巫 →
Appears in
Comparison & DegreeIdioms & Set Phrases

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