彻头彻尾 (chè tóu chè wěi) — thoroughgoing, out-and-out, to the core (often…

Definition

A strong, always-negative idiom meaning 'through and through' — emphasizes that a negative quality holds from start to finish with no exception.

idiom

thoroughgoingout-and-outto the core (often negative connotation)

彻头彻尾。
Tā shì yí gè chè tóu chè wěi de piàn zi.
He is an out-and-out liar.
彻头彻尾。
Zhè chǎng gǎi gé shì chè tóu chè wěi de shī bài.
This reform was a thoroughgoing failure.
彻头彻尾。
Tā de xiǎng fǎ chè tóu chè wěi dì guò shí le.
His ideas are through and through outdated.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 徹; 彻 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 徹 comes from a picture of 又 (hand) taking a 鬲 (pot) away after eating; 彻 is the simplified form of 徹.

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.

豆頁頭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

頁頁yèhead

Sound part声符shēngfú

豆

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.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 徹; 彻 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 徹 comes from a picture of 又 (hand) taking a 鬲 (pot) away after eating; 彻 is the simplified form of 徹.

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

尸毛尾

The form 尾 combines 尸 (person) and 毛 (hair; feather).

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