本末顛倒

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Chinese

root or trunk of a tree and the branches; the fundamental and the incidental to turn upside-down; to reverse; to be topsy-turvy
trad. (本末顛倒) 本末 顛倒
simp. (本末颠倒) 本末 颠倒
Literally: “to flip the root and branch”.

Pronunciation


Idiom

本末顛倒

  1. putting the cart before the horse

Synonyms

Japanese

Kanji in this term
ほん
Grade: 1
まつ
Grade: 4
てん
Hyōgai
とう
Grade: S
on'yomi
Alternative spelling
本末顚倒 (kyūjitai)
For pronunciation and definitions of 本末顛倒 – see the following entry.
本末転倒ほんまつてんとう
putting the cart before the horse, failing to properly evaluate relative importances
put the cart before the horse
(This term, 本末顛倒, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)