虚头巴脑

虛頭巴腦
xūtóubānǎo
(coll.) all show and no substance

CEDICT

colloquial

Entry Composition

1 虚头 xūtóu
  1. to play tricks
  2. to deceive
2 巴 bā
  1. to long for
  2. to wish
  3. to cling to
  4. to stick to
  5. sth that sticks
  6. close to
  7. next to
  8. spread open
  9. informal abbr. for bus 巴士 bāshì
  10. bar (unit of pressure)
  11. nominalizing suffix on certain nouns, such as 尾巴 wěiba, tail
3 脑 nǎo
  1. brain
  2. mind
  3. head
  4. essence