鹤立鸡群

鶴立雞群
hèlì-jīqún
idiom HSK 7-9 #23,424

Meanings

  1. 1 a crane standing among chickens
  2. 2 to stand head and shoulders above the rest
  3. 3 manifestly superior

Examples

Tā zài tóngxué zhōng hèlì-jīqún, chéngjì yīzhí míngliè-qiánmáo.
She stands out among her classmates, consistently ranking at the top.
Tā de shèjì zài zhòngduō zuòpǐn zhōng hèlì-jīqún.
His design stands head and shoulders above the many other works.

Tips

history
From the Jin Dynasty text 世说新语. It was originally used to describe the tall, elegant bearing of Jikang's son Ji Shao - like a crane standing among common chickens.
memory
Picture a tall white crane () standing among a flock of short chickens (鸡群) - it immediately stands out.

Stroke Order

qún