否认 (fǒu rèn) — to deny | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

否认 (fǒurèn) means 'to deny' a fact or accusation — about refusing to accept something is true. It is close to 否定 but more personal and accusatory, while 反驳 is an active counter-argument to a claim.

verb

to deny

Examples

否认。
Tā fǒu rèn le suǒ yǒu zhǐ kòng.
He denied all the accusations.
否认。
Tā jiān jué fǒu rèn zì jǐ shuō guò zhè yàng de huà.
She firmly denied having said such a thing.
。
Méi yǒu rén néng fǒu rèn zhè ge shì shí.
No one can deny this fact.

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.

否 means not and 认 means admit, so together they express refusing to admit something.

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.

不口否

Meaning part形符xíngfú

口口kǒumouth

Sound part声符shēngfú

不

不bù否pǐ

Same sound today

否 is built from 口 (mouth) and 不 (not), with 不 giving the sound and 口 relating to speech.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

讠人认

Meaning part形符xíngfú

讠Written in full as言yánspeech

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén认rèn

Same sound today

The left part 讠 shows speech, and the right part 人 gives the sound.

Appears in

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