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冒充 (mào chōng) — to pretend to be (someone else); to impersonate

Definition

冒充 means to impersonate a specific person, role, or brand to deceive — common in fraud and counterfeit contexts. Among siblings, 假装 is general 'pretend' (any act), 假冒 stresses passing a fake off as genuine, and 伪装 often implies a costume or cover.

verb
to pretend to be (someone else)to impersonate

Examples

  • 冒充。
    Tā mào chōng jiào shòu gěi xué shēng shàng kè.
    He pretended to be a professor and taught the students.
  • 冒充。
    Zhè zhǒng yào pǐn shì mào chōng míng pái de jiǎ huò.
    This kind of medicine is a counterfeit passing itself off as a famous brand.
  • 冒充。
    Bú yào mào chōng kè hù dǎ jìn gōng sī dǎ tīng xiāo xi.
    Don't pretend to be a customer and call the company to pry for information.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

冒màopretend
充chōngpass off as

冒 and 充 both mean to pass oneself off as something, so together they mean to impersonate.

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
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 →

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

  • 𠫓𠫓𠫓a newborn
  • 儿儿érstanding person

充 pairs 𠫓, a newborn, with 儿, a standing person, to picture a newborn growing to stand.

Open 充 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Crime & Police

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