变相 (biàn xiàng) — in disguised form; covertly; implicitly

Definition

变相 means doing something covertly under a different appearance — the action itself is hidden, not just its style. Functions as an adverb modifying verbs like 收费 or 剥削.

adverb
in disguised formcovertlyimplicitly

Examples

  • 变相。
    Gōng sī tōng guò jiàng dī gōng zī biàn xiàng bō xuē gōng rén.
    The company covertly exploited workers by reducing wages.
  • 变相。
    Tā men yòng zèng sòng lǐ pǐn de fāng shì biàn xiàng shōu fèi.
    They covertly charged fees through the guise of gift-giving.
  • 变相。
    Zhè zhǒng guǎng gào biàn xiàng xuān chuán le bú jiàn kāng de shēng huó fāng shì.
    This advertisement covertly promotes an unhealthy lifestyle.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

变biànchange
相xiāngappearance

变 means change and 相 means appearance or form; together they suggest a changed appearance that hides the real nature.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 變; 变 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
䜌
䜌䜌變biàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 變 uses 䜌 as a sound part and 攴 as a meaning part.

Open 变 →

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

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

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