虎头蛇尾
hǔ tóu shé wěi
Pinyin

Definition

虎头蛇尾
 - 
hǔ tóu shé wěi
  1. lit. tiger's head, snake's tail (idiom); fig. a strong start but weak finish

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

尾
wěi
  1. 1 tail
  2. 2 remainder
  3. 3 remnant
  4. 4 extremity
  5. 5 sixth of the 28 constellations
  6. 6 classifier for fish
尾巴
wěi ba
  1. 1 tail
  2. 2 colloquial pr. [yǐ ba]
尾牙
wěi yá
  1. 1 a year-end dinner for employees
生龙活虎
shēng lóng huó hǔ
  1. 1 lit. lively dragon and animated tiger (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. vigorous and lively
结尾
jié wěi
  1. 1 ending
  2. 2 coda
  3. 3 to wind up
老虎
lǎo hǔ
  1. 1 tiger
  2. 2 CL:隻|只[zhī]
卧虎
wò hǔ
  1. 1 crouching tiger
  2. 2 fig. major figure in hiding
  3. 3 concealed talent
虎
hǔ
  1. 1 tiger
  2. 2 CL:隻|只[zhī]
蛇
shé
  1. 1 variant of 蛇[shé]
龙腾虎跃
lóng téng hǔ yuè
  1. 1 lit. dragon soaring and tiger leaping (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. prosperous and bustling
  3. 3 vigorous and active
丈八蛇矛
zhàng bā shé máo
  1. 1 ancient spear-like weapon 18 Chinese feet 尺[chǐ] in length, with a wavy spearhead like a snake's body,
九尾狐
jiǔ wěi hú
  1. 1 nine-tailed fox (mythological creature)
唐伯虎
Táng Bó hǔ
  1. 1 Tang Bohu or Tang Yin 唐寅 (1470-1523), Ming painter and poet, one of Four great southern talents of the Ming 江南四大才子
壁虎
bì hǔ
  1. 1 gecko
  2. 2 house lizard
如虎添翼
rú hǔ tiān yì
  1. 1 lit. like a tiger that has grown wings
  2. 2 with redoubled power (idiom)
尾数
wěi shù
  1. 1 remainder (after rounding a number)
  2. 2 decimal part (of number after the decimal point)
  3. 3 mantissa (i.e. fractional part of common logarithm in math.)
  4. 4 small change
  5. 5 balance (of an account)
尾气
wěi qì
  1. 1 exhaust (i.e. waste gas from engine)
  2. 2 emissions
尾灯
wěi dēng
  1. 1 tail light (on vehicle)
尾声
wěi shēng
  1. 1 coda
  2. 2 epilogue
  3. 3 end
尾部
wěi bù
  1. 1 back part
  2. 2 rear or tail section

Idioms (20)

一山不容二虎
yī shān bù róng èr hǔ
  1. 1 lit. the mountain can't have two tigers (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. this town ain't big enough for the two of us
  3. 3 (of two rivals) to be fiercely competitive
一年被蛇咬十年怕井绳
yī nián bèi shé yǎo shí nián pà jǐng shéng
  1. 1 bitten by a snake in one year, fears the well rope for ten years (idiom); once bitten twice shy
一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳
yī zhāo bèi shé yǎo , shí nián pà jǐng shéng
  1. 1 once bitten by a snake, ten years in fear of a well rope
  2. 2 once bitten, twice shy (idiom)
三人成虎
sān rén chéng hǔ
  1. 1 three men talking makes a tiger (idiom); repeated rumor becomes a fact
不入虎穴，焉得虎子
bù rù hǔ xué , yān dé hǔ zǐ
  1. 1 How do you catch the tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair? (idiom); Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
九牛二虎之力
jiǔ niú èr hǔ zhī lì
  1. 1 tremendous strength (idiom)
二虎相斗，必有一伤
èr hǔ xiāng dòu , bì yǒu yī shāng
  1. 1 lit. when two tigers fight, one is sure to be wounded (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. if it comes to a fight, someone will get hurt
人心不足蛇吞象
rén xīn bù zú shé tūn xiàng
  1. 1 a man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant (idiom)
伴君如伴虎
bàn jūn rú bàn hǔ
  1. 1 being close to the sovereign can be as perilous as lying with a tiger (idiom)
佛口蛇心
fó kǒu shé xīn
  1. 1 words of a Buddha, heart of a snake (idiom); two-faced
  2. 2 malicious and duplicitous
两虎相争
liǎng hǔ xiāng zhēng
  1. 1 two tigers fighting (idiom); fierce contest between evenly matched adversaries
两虎相争，必有一伤
liǎng hǔ xiāng zhēng , bì yǒu yī shāng
  1. 1 if two tigers fight, one will get injured (idiom)
  2. 2 if you start a war, someone is bound to get hurt
两虎相斗
liǎng hǔ xiāng dòu
  1. 1 two tigers fight (idiom); fig. a dispute between two powerful adversaries
  2. 2 a battle of the giants
两虎相斗，必有一伤
liǎng hǔ xiāng dòu , bì yǒu yī shāng
  1. 1 when two tigers fight, one will get injured (idiom)
  2. 2 if it comes to a fight, someone will get hurt.
初生之犊不畏虎
chū shēng zhī dú bù wèi hǔ
  1. 1 lit. a new-born calf has no fear of the tiger (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. the fearlessness of youth
初生牛犊不怕虎
chū shēng niú dú bù pà hǔ
  1. 1 lit. newborn calves do not fear tigers (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. the young are fearless
前怕狼后怕虎
qián pà láng hòu pà hǔ
  1. 1 lit. to fear the wolf in front and the tiger behind (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to be full of needless fears
  3. 3 reds under the beds
前门打虎，后门打狼
qián mén dǎ hǔ , hòu mén dǎ láng
  1. 1 to beat a tiger from the front door, only to have a wolf come in at the back (idiom); fig. facing one problem after another
前门拒虎，后门进狼
qián mén jù hǔ , hòu mén jìn láng
  1. 1 to beat a tiger from the front door, only to have a wolf come in at the back (idiom); fig. facing one problem after another
势成骑虎
shì chéng qí hǔ
  1. 1 if you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off (idiom); fig. impossible to stop halfway

Sample Sentences

学语言也很容易虎头蛇尾。
xué yǔyán yě hěn róngyì hǔtóushéwěi 。
It's also very easy to start strong when learning a language but peter out towards the end.
Go to Lesson 
女人减肥也是很虎头蛇尾的。
nǚrén jiǎnféi yě shì hěn hǔtóushéwěi de 。
Women often start off strong when trying to lose weight but lose interest and peter out quickly.
Go to Lesson 
健身通常都是很虎头蛇尾的。
jiànshēn tōngcháng dōu shì hěn hǔtóushéwěi de 。
People often start off strong with exercising but then peter out.
Go to Lesson 
虎头蛇尾
hǔtóushéwěi
To start strong but peter out.
Go to Lesson