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小看 (xiǎo kàn) — to look down on (someone); to underestimate (something)

Definition

小看 covers both 'look down on' people and 'underestimate' difficulty — broader than 看不起, which is only about despising a person. Use 低估 for neutral 'underestimate'.

verb
to look down on (someone)to underestimate (something)

Examples

  • 小看，。
    Nǐ bú yào xiǎo kàn tā, tā suī rán nián qīng dàn hěn yǒu jīng yàn.
    Don't look down on him—he may be young but he has a lot of experience.
  • 小看，。
    Wǒ dāng chū xiǎo kàn le zhè ge xiàng mù de fù zá xìng, jié guǒ huā le sān bèi shí jiān.
    I initially underestimated the complexity of this project, and it ended up taking three times as long.
  • 小看。
    Bù néng yīn wèi duì fāng shì xīn shǒu jiù xiǎo kàn bié rén.
    You can't look down on others just because they're beginners.

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.

小xiǎosmall
看kànlook

小看 treats someone as 小 (small): 小 adds the idea of smallness to 看 (look).

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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

The shape 看 puts 手 (hand) over 目 (eye), showing a hand placed above the eyes to gaze into the distance.

Open 看 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Attitudes & Opinions

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