嘘 (shī) — to shush; to hiss; to boo
Definition
Onomatopoeic verb for the "shh!" sound: telling someone to be quiet (嘘,安静) or booing a bad performance (嘘,下去). Not a lexical verb — there's no action beyond making the sound.
verb
to shushto hissto boo
Easily confused
- 虚xūlook-alike(adjective) empty; void; unoccupied
- 师shīsound-alike(bound form) teacher, master; person skilled in a profession (e.g., 律师, 工程师)
- 唬hǔlook-alike(coll.) to bluff, to scare, to frighten
- 尸shīsound-alikecorpse, dead body (bound form, used in compounds)
- 湿shīsound-alikewet, moist
- 诗shīsound-alikepoem; poetry; verse
Examples
- 嘘，。Lǎo shī qīng qīng shī le yī shēng, shì yì dà jiā ān jìng.The teacher shushed softly to tell everyone to be quiet.
- 嘘。Guān zhòng duì nà ge zāo gāo de biǎo yǎn shī le qǐ lái.The audience booed at the terrible performance.
- 嘘，。Bú yào zài tú shū guǎn lǐ shī bié rén, nà yàng hěn bù lǐ mào.Don't shush others in the library — that's very impolite.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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 噓; 嘘 is its simplified writing.
Sound part声符shēngfú
虛
虛xū噓xū
Same sound today
The traditional form 噓 combines 口, showing the mouth, with 虛 for sound and a sense of emptiness. The simplified 嘘 is a later shorthand.
Appears in
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