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作弊 (zuò bì) — to cheat (on exams, in competitions); to engage in fraud

Definition

Specific to cheating in exams or competitions, often as a verb in 被 constructions. 欺骗 and 欺诈 are more general 'deceive/defraud' words; 骗 is everyday 'cheat/swindle' a person.

verb
to cheat (on exams, in competitions)to engage in fraud

Examples

  • 作弊。
    Tā yīn wèi zuò bì bèi qǔ xiāo le chéng jì.
    He had his scores canceled because of cheating.
  • 作弊。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī zuò bì bèi chá chū lái le.
    This company's fraud was uncovered.
  • 作弊。
    Yùn dòng yuán zuò bì huì bèi jìn sài.
    Athletes who cheat will be banned from competition.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

作zuòdo; make
弊bìfraud; malpractice

作 means do and 弊 means fraud, so the phrase describes doing dishonest practices.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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
廾廾gǒngboth hands
Sound part声符shēngfú
敝
敝bì弊bì
Same sound today

弊 adds 廾, both hands, to 敝, which gives the sound and means destroy or tatters, making the idea of destroying something with both hands.

Open 弊 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Crime & PoliceExams & Grades5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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