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假冒 (jiǎ mào) — to impersonate (someone), to pose as; to counterfeit (goods), to pass off a fake as genuine

Definition

假冒 is a formal/legal word for 'to impersonate' (a person) or 'to counterfeit' (goods). Stronger than 假装 (which is just 'to pretend'); 伪造 and 造假 focus on forging documents/items, while 冒充 is a closer synonym for impersonating a person.

verb
to impersonate (someone)to pose asto counterfeit (goods)to pass off a fake as genuine

Examples

  • 假冒。
    Tā jiǎ mào yī shēng gěi bìng rén kàn bìng.
    He impersonated a doctor to treat patients.
  • 假冒。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī jiǎ mào míng pái shǒu biǎo chū shòu.
    This company counterfeits brand-name watches to sell.
  • 假冒，。
    jiǎ mào Chǎn pǐn bù jǐn zhì liàng chà, ér qiě wēi hài jiàn kāng.
    Counterfeit products are not only of poor quality but also harmful to health.

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.

假jiǎfalse
冒màoimpersonate

The sense of 假 as false combines with 冒 as impersonate to mean pass off a fake.

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
叚
叚jiǎ假jiǎ
Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

Open 假 →

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
目目mùeyes
Sound part声符shēngfú
冃
冃mào冒mào
Same sound today

冒 was built from 冃, a hat used for the sound, plus 目, eyes, as the meaning part.

Open 冒 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Crime & Police

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.