呆笨 (dāi bèn) — stupid and clumsy; slow-witted; dull

Definition

A stronger, more insulting word than 笨 or 傻: means not just 'slow' but 'stupid and clumsy' together, so it sounds harsher in tone.

adjective
stupid and clumsyslow-witteddull

Examples

  • 呆笨，。
    Tā kàn qǐ lái yǒu xiē dāi bèn, dàn zuò shì hěn rèn zhēn.
    He looks a bit slow-witted, but he works very carefully.
  • 呆笨，。
    Bié xián tā dāi bèn, tā zhǐ shì xū yào gèng duō shí jiān xué xí.
    Don't call him stupid and clumsy; he just needs more time to learn.
  • 呆笨。
    Zhè zhǒng dāi bèn de tài dù ràng rén hěn shēng qì.
    This kind of dull attitude really makes people angry.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

呆dāidull
笨bènstupid

呆 (dull) and 笨 (stupid) combine to mean dull and clumsy.

Characters in this word

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

呆 combines 口 (mouth) and 木 (wood) to show something dull or wooden, which came to mean foolish.

Open 呆 →

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
竹竹zhú
Sound part声符shēngfú
本
本běn笨bèn
Same sound today

笨 is made of 竹 and 本, where 本 gives the sound and 竹 is related to the meaning.

Open 笨 →

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