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亏待 (kuī dài) — to treat unfairly, to mistreat

Definition

亏待 means to treat someone unfairly by giving them less than they deserve — milder than 虐待 (which implies physical/emotional abuse). Less intense than 吃亏, which focuses on the resulting loss to oneself.

verb
to treat unfairlyto mistreat

Examples

  • 亏待。
    Tā cóng lái méi kuī dài guò rèn hé rén.
    He has never mistreated anyone.
  • ，亏待。
    Nǐ fàng xīn, wǒ bú huì kuī dài nǐ de.
    Don't worry, I won't treat you unfairly.
  • 亏待，。
    Tā jué de zì jǐ bèi kuī dài le, hěn bù kāi xīn.
    She felt she had been treated unfairly and was very unhappy.

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.

亏kuīdeficient
待dàitreat

亏, deficient, and 待, treat, together mean treating someone unfairly.

Characters in this word

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 虧; 亏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亏亏kuīexhale
Sound part声符shēngfú
雐
雐hū虧kuī
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 虧 pairs 雐, a sound part, with 亏, a part meaning exhale. The simplified 亏 is a later abbreviation.

Open 亏 →

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
彳彳chì
Sound part声符shēngfú
寺
寺sì待dài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

待 is built from 彳 on the left and 寺 on the right; 彳 is tied to the meaning, and 寺 gives the sound.

Open 待 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Good & Bad

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