Tiếng Việt · Proverb Candidate

Đục từ đầu nước đục xuống

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Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Trouble starts from the top and affects those below

Literally: Muddy from the head of the water, muddy down

Examples

Khi lãnh đạo tham nhũng, thì Đục từ đầu nước đục xuốngWhen leaders are corrupt, trouble starts from the top and affects those below

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Headword listed in the vdict.com proverb dictionary index (discovery source; headword only — no source content copied). Entered as candidate 2026-08-05; definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-09; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “Đục từ đầu nước đục xuống” mean?

Trouble starts from the top and affects those below Literally: Muddy from the head of the water, muddy down

Is “Đục từ đầu nước đục xuống” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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