周章 (zhōu zhāng) — to be scared, flustered, or at a loss; (noun) t…

Definition

Literary word (adjective or noun) for being flustered and at a loss, or the trouble/effort involved. Mostly seen in set phrases like 费周章 and 狼狈周章.

adjective

to be scaredflusteredor at a loss

noun

troubleeffortfuss

，周章。
Tīng dào zhè ge xiāo xi, tā xiǎn de shí fēn zhōu zhāng.
Upon hearing the news, he appeared very flustered.
周章。
Cǐ shì fèi le hěn dà zhōu zhāng cái bàn chéng.
It took a great deal of effort to get this matter done.
周章。
Tā bù xiǎng zài rě zhè xiē wú wèi de zhōu zhāng le.
He doesn't want to stir up these pointless troubles anymore.

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

周 and 章 together form a fixed unit; the characters do not carry separate meanings for flusteredness or trouble.

Sound-only characters

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The oldest form of 周 drew a jade artifact with carved patterns. It was later borrowed for a place name, so an extra mark was added to distinguish it.

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

章 shows a chisel piercing a piece of jade in the middle. It originally meant treating jade.