嘲笑 (cháo xiào) — to mock, to ridicule | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

嘲笑 means 'to mock / ridicule' openly, often for things people can't change (appearance, accent). Among siblings, 取笑 and 调侃 are lighter or playful, while 奚落 adds contempt.

verb

to mockto ridicule

Examples

嘲笑。
Bú yào suí biàn cháo xiào bié rén de zhǎng xiàng.
Don't casually mock others' appearance.
嘲笑。
Tóng xué men jīng cháng cháo xiào tā shuō huà de kǒu yīn.
Classmates often mock his accent.
，嘲笑。
Tā de jiàn yì bú dàn méi yǒu bèi jiē shòu, fǎn ér bèi cháo xiào le.
Her suggestion was not only not accepted, but was ridiculed.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

嘲 means to jeer, and 笑 means to laugh at, so together they mean to ridicule someone.

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.

口朝嘲

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

朝

朝cháo嘲cháo

Same sound today

嘲 pairs 口, the mouth, with 朝 as a sound part. The mouth part relates to the meaning.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

艸

艸cǎo笑xiào

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Appears in

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