created sense approved 宁为鸡头，不为凤尾/寧為雞頭，不為鳳尾 · nìngwéijītóubùwéifèngwěi · better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"
宁为鸡头，不为凤尾 / 寧為雞頭，不為鳳尾
nìngwéijītóubùwéifèngwěi
better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond
Literally "would rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail"; used to express a preference for being the leader of a small or unimportant group rather than a minor member of a prestigious one
宁 (literal) → 宁/寧 · nìng · would rather 为 (literal) → 为/為 · wéi · to be 鸡头 (literal) → 鸡头/雞頭 · jītóu · chicken head ， (non_chinese) 不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 为 (literal) → 为/為 · wéi · to be 凤 (literal) → 凤/鳳 · fèng · phoenix 尾 (literal) → 尾 · wěi · end; remainder
Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition