idiom
宁做鸡头，不做凤尾
nìng zuò jī tóu , bù zuò fèng wěi
lit. would rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail (idiom); fig. to prefer to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond
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宁做鸡头，不做凤尾 is not on the HSK 2.0 lists or the new exam syllabus.
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Frequently Asked Questions
宁做鸡头，不做凤尾 (nìng zuò jī tóu , bù zuò fèng wěi) means "lit. would rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail (idiom); fig. to prefer to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond" in Chinese.
宁做鸡头，不做凤尾 is pronounced "nìng zuò jī tóu , bù zuò fèng wěi" in Mandarin Chinese. It is made up of 9 syllables.
宁做鸡头，不做凤尾 is not part of the HSK vocabulary lists. It may be a specialized or advanced word.
宁做鸡头，不做凤尾 is made up of the characters 宁, 做, 鸡, 头, ，, 不, 做, 凤, 尾. Each character has its own meaning and can appear in other words.
You can practice writing 宁做鸡头，不做凤尾 using our stroke order tool.
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.