奸商 (jiān shāng) — unscrupulous merchant; profiteer

Definition

A '奸商' is a merchant who cheats customers, sells fake goods, or profiteers — the negative moral judgment is built in. Translates more strongly than 'unscrupulous' suggests; think 'crooked dealer'.

noun
unscrupulous merchantprofiteer
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 奸商。
    Zhè ge jiān shāng jīng cháng qī piàn gù kè.
    This unscrupulous merchant often cheats customers.
  • 奸商。
    Zhèng fǔ yīng gāi yán lì dǎ jī jiān shāng.
    The government should crack down hard on profiteers.
  • 奸商。
    Tā yīn wèi mài jiǎ huò bèi dà jiā chēng wéi jiān shāng.
    He was called a profiteer by everyone because he sold fake goods.

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.

奸jiāncunning
商shāngmerchant

奸商 names a 商 (merchant) marked by 奸 (cunning) conduct.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
女女nǚ
Sound part声符shēngfú
干
干gān奸jiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

奸 is written with 女 (woman) on the left and 干 on the right; the evidence says 干 gives the sound and 女 marks the meaning.

Open 奸 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 商 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.