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不善 (bù shàn) — be not good at, be poor at (doing something); (in fixed expressions) ill-intentioned, hostile, not kind

Definition

不善 has two distinct senses: 'not good at' (a skill — e.g. 不善与人交往) and 'ill-intentioned / hostile' in fixed phrases like 来者不善 and 存心不善.

verb
be not good atbe poor at (doing something)(in fixed expressions) ill-intentionedhostilenot kind

Examples

  • 不善。
    Tā bù shàn yǔ rén jiāo wǎng.
    He is not good at socializing.
  • 不善，。
    Lái zhě bù shàn, wǒ men yào xiǎo xīn.
    The one who is coming is not well-intentioned; we must be careful.
  • 不善，。
    Tā cún xīn bù shàn, qiān wàn bié xiāng xìn tā.
    He harbors ill intentions; don't trust him at all.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不bùnot
善shàngood

「不」 denies, and 「善」 expresses goodness or skill.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

An earlier form of 善 joined 羊, a sheep linked with goodness or beauty, and 誩, described as a wrangle; the reference says this meaning link is hard to understand.

Open 善 →
Appears in
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