khôn độc không bằng ngốc đàn
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
A lone sage is less than a chorus of simpletons — many plain heads outvote one brilliant one.
Literally: solitary cleverness not equal to collective simplicity
Examples
Khôn độc không bằng ngốc đàn.One clever alone loses to many simple together.
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
Sources & notes
Discovered via Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Nam ngạn chích cẩm (Phạm Quang Sán, 1918). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “khôn độc không bằng ngốc đàn” mean?
A lone sage is less than a chorus of simpletons — many plain heads outvote one brilliant one. Literally: solitary cleverness not equal to collective simplicity
Is “khôn độc không bằng ngốc đàn” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.