侮辱 (wǔ rǔ) — to insult, to humiliate | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

侮辱 means to insult or humiliate, often with the goal of damaging someone's dignity — stronger than 轻视 (merely looking down on) and more deliberate than 欺负 (bullying through force or unfairness).

verb

to insultto humiliate

Examples

侮辱，。
Tā dāng zhòng wǔ rǔ le tā, ràng tā fēi cháng nán kān.
He insulted her in public, making her very embarrassed.
侮辱。
Wǒ men bù néng yòng cū huà wǔ rǔ bié rén.
We must not insult others with vulgar language.
侮辱，。
Tā gù yì wǔ rǔ tóng shì, jié guǒ bèi pī píng le.
He deliberately insulted his colleague and ended up being criticized.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

侮wǔinsult

侮 and 辱 both refer to insulting or shaming, so the word means to insult or humiliate.

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

人人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

每

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

侮 pairs 人, a person, with 每 as a sound component; the person part shows the meaning concerns a person.

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

辰寸辱

辰辰chénhoe
寸寸cùnhand

辱 combines 辰, drawn as a hoe, with 寸, drawn as a hand.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Communication & Speech Conflict & Agreement 5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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