Tiếng Việt · Proverb Attested

khôn độc không bằng ngốc đàn

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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.

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