小巫见大巫 — “To be completely overshadowed”
小巫见大巫 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be completely overshadowed”. To pale into insignificance by comparison; to be no match for a superior person or thing. Literally, “A small shaman meets a great shaman”.
小巫见大巫 Pronunciation and Pinyin
小巫见大巫 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 小巫见大巫
Origin and Story of 小巫见大巫
During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Fu, a famous general serving Sun Quan of Eastern Wu, was a remarkably talented individual, proficient in both poetry and rhapsodies. Chen Lin, a renowned literati of the time and Zhang Fu's fellow townsman, authored the 'Ode to the Arsenal'.
Zhang Fu was deeply impressed after reading it and wrote a letter to commend Chen Lin's literary genius. Chen Lin replied, saying, "I am in Hebei, almost isolated from the rest of the world. There are few writers here, making it easy to stand out. It's not that my writing is exceptional; you simply praise me too much. Compared to you and Zhang Zhao, I am truly far inferior, just like a small shaman encountering a great shaman, whose magic then has no room to be displayed."
Idioms Related to 小巫见大巫
Synonyms of 小巫见大巫
More idioms starting with 小
- xiǎo小bù不rěn忍zé则luàn乱dà大móu谋Impatience in small things spoils great plans
- xiǎo小chǒu丑tiào跳liáng梁Insignificant villains stirring up mischief
- xiǎo小zhōng中jiàn见dà大see the big in the small
- xiǎo小rén人dé得zhì志petty person achieves success
- xiǎo小xìn信wèi未fú孚Small trust not yet convinced
- xiǎo小tōu偷xiǎo小mō摸to engage in petty theft
- xiǎo小ér儿pò破zéi贼youngster achieves great accomplishments
- xiǎo小guān冠zi子xià夏a person with poor eyesight
- xiǎo小shòu受dà大zǒu走endure minor punishment, flee severe beating
- xiǎo小qì器yì易yíng盈narrow-minded, easily conceited
- xiǎo小guó国guǎ寡mín民small country with few people
- xiǎo小dà大yóu由zhī之applicable to both large and small matters
Recommended tools
Chinese Text Image Generator
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Stroke Order Animator
Turn a Chinese character or sentence into a GIF or MP4
Open the tool →
Bingo Cards
Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Character Highlight Animator
Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →Questions about 小巫见大巫
What does 小巫见大巫 mean?
小巫见大巫 (xiǎo wū jiàn dà wū) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be completely overshadowed”.
How do you pronounce 小巫见大巫?
小巫见大巫 is pronounced xiǎo wū jiàn dà wū in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 小巫见大巫 literally mean?
Literally, 小巫见大巫 means “a small shaman meets a great shaman”. It is used to mean “to be completely overshadowed”.
Where does 小巫见大巫 come from?
小巫见大巫 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 小巫见大巫?
巫：旧时装神弄鬼替人祈祷为职业的人。原意是小巫见到大巫，法术无可施展。后比喻相形之下，一个远远比不上另一个。