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幼稚 (yòu zhì) — childish, immature (in behavior or thinking); naive, puerile

Definition

Criticizes an adult's behavior or thinking as childish and beneath their age, often negative. Compared to 天真 (innocent, often neutral) and 稚嫩 (soft/immature, milder, can describe style), 幼稚 is sharper and more judgmental.

adjective
childishimmature (in behavior or thinking)naivepuerile

Examples

  • 幼稚，。
    Zhè zhǒng xiǎng fǎ tài yòu zhì le, gēn běn bú xiàn shí.
    This kind of thinking is too childish — it's completely unrealistic.
  • 幼稚，。
    Bié xiào wǒ yòu zhì, wǒ zhǐ shì xiǎng bǎo liú yì diǎn tóng xīn.
    Don't laugh at me for being childish — I just want to keep a little childlike heart.
  • ，幼稚。
    Tā sān shí suì le hái zuò zhè zhǒng shì, zhēn shì yòu zhì.
    He's thirty years old and still does things like this — truly childish.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

幼yòuyoung
稚zhìchildish

幼 and 稚 both point to youth or childishness, so someone is immature or puerile.

Characters in this word

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

幼 is built from 幺, shown as tiny, and 力, shown as strength. 幺 may also contribute the sound.

Open 幼 →

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
禾禾hérice
Sound part声符shēngfú
屖
屖xī稚zhì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

稚 is built from 禾 (rice) plus 屖, which supplies the sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Personality & Traits

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