对头

對頭
duìtou / duìtóu
noun #7,932

Meanings

  1. 1 rival; adversary
  2. 2 enemy; foe

Examples

HSK 3
Tāmen liǎng gè shì lǎo duìtou le.
Those two have been longtime rivals.
HSK 3
Shāngchǎng shàng tāmen yìzhí shì duìtou.
In business they have always been rivals.
HSK 5
Bié bǎ tóngshì dàngchéng duìtou.
Do not treat a colleague as an adversary.

Tips

mistakes
Same two characters as 对头, correct or normal, but the second syllable is neutral here. If the sentence is about a person someone is up against rather than about something being right, the reading is 对头.
usage
It usually takes a modifier: 对头 a longstanding rival, 对头 a sworn enemy. The word is spoken and informal; a business report would use 竞争对手 instead.

Stroke Order

duì
tóu