無頭無尾

Chinese

	not have	head; (noun suffix)	not have	tail
trad. (無頭無尾)	無	頭	無	尾
simp. (无头无尾)	无	头	无	尾
Literally: “no head, no tail”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wútóuwúwěi

(Zhuyin): ㄨˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁴ tau⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bô-thâu-bô-bé / bô-thâu-bô-bóe / bô-thâu-bô-bér

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wútóuwúwěi
  - Zhuyin: ㄨˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wútóuwúwěi
  - Wade–Giles: wu²-tʻou²-wu²-wei³
  - Yale: wú-tóu-wú-wěi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wutourwuwoei
  - Palladius: утоуувэй (utouuvɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /u³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ u³⁵ weɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: mou⁴ tau⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵
  - Yale: mòuh tàuh mòuh méih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁴ tau⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: mou⁴ teo⁴ mou⁴ méi⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mou̯²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹ mou̯²¹ mei̯¹³/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese, Singapore)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-thâu-bô-bé
  - Tâi-lô: bô-thâu-bô-bé
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boi'tau'boi'bea
  - IPA (Xiamen): /bo²⁴⁻²² tʰau²⁴⁻²² bo²⁴⁻²² be⁵³/
  - IPA (Singapore): /bo²⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴⁻²¹ bo²⁴⁻²¹ be⁴²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /bo²⁴⁻¹¹ tʰau²⁴⁻¹¹ bo²⁴⁻¹¹ be⁵³/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Singapore)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-thâu-bô-bóe
  - Tâi-lô: bô-thâu-bô-bué
  - Phofsit Daibuun: boi'tau'boi'boea
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ²³⁻³³ tʰau²³⁻³³ bɤ²³⁻³³ bue⁴¹/
  - IPA (Singapore): /bo²⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴⁻²¹ bo²⁴⁻²¹ bue⁴²/
- (Hokkien: Singapore)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-thâu-bô-bér
  - Tâi-lô: bô-thâu-bô-bér
  - IPA (Singapore): /bo²⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴⁻²¹ bo²⁴⁻²¹ bə⁴²/

Idiom

無頭無尾

(figurative, of a matter) to have no clue of the reason or cause; to be unclear; to be incomprehensible; to be nonsensical
(figurative) to be chaotic; to be messy; to be all over the place; to be ill-composed

Related terms

有頭有尾／有头有尾 (yǒutóuyǒuwěi)
有頭無尾／有头无尾 (yǒutóuwúwěi)
有始無終／有始无终 (yǒushǐwúzhōng)
虎頭蛇尾／虎头蛇尾 (hǔtóushéwěi)