Fish always rots from the head downwards (The fish rots from the head down)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Corruption or decay starts at the top level of leadership
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Tham nhũng hoặc suy thoái bắt đầu từ cấp lãnh đạo cao nhất
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a fish rotting from its head down
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Fish always rots from the head downwards (The fish rots from the head down)” mean?
Corruption or decay starts at the top level of leadership Literally: a fish rotting from its head down
Is “Fish always rots from the head downwards (The fish rots from the head down)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.