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工作狂 (gōng zuò kuáng) — workaholic

Definition

noun
workaholic
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 工作狂，。
    Tā zhēn shì yí gè gōng zuò kuáng, měi tiān gōng zuò dào bàn yè.
    He's really a workaholic, working until midnight every day.
  • 工作狂，。
    Zhè ge gōng sī yǒu hěn duō gōng zuò kuáng, zhōu mò yě zài jiā bān.
    This company has many workaholics, who work overtime even on weekends.
  • 工作狂，。
    gōng zuò kuáng Yí dìng yào zhù yì shēn tǐ jiàn kāng, bú yào guò dù láo lèi.
    Workaholics must pay attention to their health and not overwork themselves.

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.

工作work
工gōngwork作zuòdo/work
联合Coordinate
狂kuángcrazy

工作 is work, and 狂 suggests being crazy or obsessed, so the word names someone obsessed with work.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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
犭Written in full as犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
㞷
㞷㞷狂kuáng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

狂 pairs 犭 (dog) with 㞷, which gives the sound; 㞷 is an old form of a character meaning 'to go'.

Open 狂 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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