TongTong
Sign in

傻笑 (shǎ xiào) — to laugh foolishly or in a silly, vacant way

Definition

傻笑 (shǎ xiào) means to laugh in a silly, vacant, or dazed way — often without knowing why or when one should stop. Often reduplicated as 傻傻地笑 for a more vivid image.

verb
to laugh foolishly or in a sillyvacant way

Examples

  • 傻笑，。
    Tā zhàn zài nà r yí gè jìn r dì shǎ xiào, yě bù zhī dào zài xiào shén me.
    He just stood there laughing foolishly, not knowing what he was laughing at.
  • 傻笑，。
    Bié shǎ xiào le, bié rén dōu kàn zhe nǐ ne.
    Stop laughing like that — everyone is looking at you.
  • 傻笑。
    Tā tīng dào nà ge xiào hua hòu zhī huì shǎ shǎ dì shǎ xiào.
    After hearing that joke, she could only giggle in a silly way.

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.

傻shǎfoolish
笑xiàolaugh

傻 means foolish and 笑 means laugh; together they describe laughing in a silly way.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 傻 →

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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