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不安 (bù ān) — uneasy; restless; anxious; disturbed

Definition

不安 describes an unsettled inner state — unease, anxiety, or social/political instability. As a feeling it sits between the verb 担心 (active worrying about something specific) and the more agitated 烦躁/焦躁 (visible irritation).

adjective
uneasyrestlessanxiousdisturbed

Examples

  • ，不安。
    Zuì jìn yì zhí xià dà yǔ, wǒ xīn lǐ hěn bù ān.
    It’s been raining heavily lately, so I feel quite uneasy inside.
  • 不安，。
    Shè huì bù ān de shí hou, rén men gèng xū yào tuán jié.
    In times of social unrest, people need unity even more.
  • 不安。
    Tā shuō huà shí lù chū bù ān de shén sè.
    He showed an uneasy expression while speaking.

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
安ānpeaceful

不 means not and 安 means peaceful; together they describe a state that is not at ease.

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 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀mián
Sound part声符shēngfú
女
女nǚ安ān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 安, 宀 sits above a seated 女 on a cushion; 宀 is the meaning part, 女 is the sound part, and the character originally meant sitting at ease.

Open 安 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 5Emotions & FeelingsMental Health5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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