出头

• Pinyin: chū tóu
• Hanzi breakdown: 出 = to emerge; 头 = 大 + 页 = head

Meaning

To get ahead; to stand out; to rise above; also: a little over (after a number).

Two main uses: (1) to rise to prominence or success, often after hardship; (2) as a suffix meaning 'a bit more than' with numbers (e.g., 三十出头 = early thirties). Also can mean to take the lead or stick one's neck out.

Examples

1. 她奋斗了二十年，终于出头了。 She struggled for twenty years and finally made it.
2. 他看起来三十出头，实际上已经四十了。 He looks like he's in his early thirties, but he's actually forty.
3. 这件事太复杂，没人愿意出头去管。 This matter is too complicated — no one wants to step up and handle it.

Usage Guide

Context: success, age, leadership

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 穷人家的孩子想要出头不容易。(It's not easy for kids from poor families to get ahead.)
• 她二十出头就创业成功了。(She successfully started her own business when she was just past twenty.)

Don't Say

• 我出头了一下 (Doesn't work as a momentary action — use 出面 for brief intervention)

Origin & History

Compound of 出 (to emerge) and 头 (head). Originally meaning to raise one's head above others.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal