摇头摆尾 — Chinese idiom

Meaning

• to nod one's head and wag one's tail
• to be well pleased with oneself
• to have a lighthearted air

Character by character

• 摇yáoto rock, to shake; to swing, to wave
• 头tóuhead; chief, boss; first, top
• 摆bǎito arrange, to display; pendulum, swing
• 尾wěitail; extremity, end; back, rear

Idioms sharing a character

• 地动山摇 dì dòng shān yáo
• 招摇撞骗 zhāo yáo zhuàng piàn
• 招摇过市 zhāo yáo guò shì
• 摇尾乞怜 yáo wěi qǐ lián
• 摇旗呐喊 yáo qí nà hǎn
• 东摇西摆 dōng yáo xī bǎi
• 风雨飘摇 fēng yǔ piāo yáo
• 三天两头 sān tiān liǎng tóu
• 三头六臂 sān tóu liù bì
• 事到临头 shì dào lín tóu

Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3). Retrieved 2026-10-22.