举头三尺有神明 / 舉頭三尺有神明

jǔ​tóu​sān​chǐ​yǒu​shén​míng

the gods are watching

(proverb) literally meaning 'gods are watching three feet above one's head'; used to warn someone against doing bad things or to remind them that one's actions are always being observed by a witness is everywhere

举头 (literal) → 举头/舉頭 · jǔ​tóu · to lift one's head 三 (literal) → 三 · sān · three 尺 (literal) → 尺 · chǐ · chi 有 (literal) → 有 · yǒu · there is 神明 (literal) → 神明 · shén​míng · gods

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM