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奸诈 (jiān zhà) — treacherous, devious

Definition

奸诈 is a formal, strong adjective for 'treacherous' or 'devious' people who deliberately deceive for personal gain. Stronger than 狡猾 (cunning, more general/derogatory) and emphasizes betrayal of trust rather than mere cleverness.

adjective
treacherousdevious

Examples

  • 奸诈，。
    Dà jiā dōu jué de tā tài jiān zhà le, bú yuàn yì hé tā jiāo péng you.
    Everyone thinks he is too treacherous and is unwilling to be friends with him.
  • 奸诈。
    Tā yòng jiān zhà de shǒu duàn piàn zǒu le hěn duō qián.
    He used devious methods to swindle a lot of money.
  • 奸诈。
    Zhè zhǒng jiān zhà de xíng wéi ràng rén wú fǎ yuán liàng.
    This kind of treacherous behavior is unforgivable.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

奸jiāntreacherous
诈zhàdeceitful

奸 and 诈 both mean deceitful or treacherous, so together they emphasize cunning dishonesty.

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 →

Most 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 詐; 诈 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà詐zhà
Same sound today

The traditional form 詐 shows 言 (speech) plus 乍 as a sound part; the simplified 诈 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical ones.

Open 诈 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Personality & Traits

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