TongTong
Sign in

不适 (bù shì) — unwell, indisposed, not feeling well

Definition

不适 is a formal, written word for being physically unwell or indisposed — more literary than the everyday 难受, and used more for health states than emotions.

adjective
unwellindisposednot feeling well

Examples

  • 不适。
    Tā zuì jìn zǒng shì gǎn dào bù shì.
    He has been feeling unwell lately.
  • 不适。
    Zhè zhǒng bù shì de gǎn jué guò yí huì r jiù hǎo le.
    This feeling of discomfort will pass in a little while.
  • 不适。
    Tā yīn wèi shēn tǐ bù shì qǐng jià le.
    She took leave because she was unwell.

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
适shìcomfortable

不 means not and 适 means comfortable, so the word means unwell.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 適; 适 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
啻
啻chì適shì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 適 pairs 辶 (walking) with a sound part; its inner part was originally 啻 and was stylized into 啇. The simplified 适 is a later variant.

Open 适 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Illness & Symptoms

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.