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怂恿 (sǒng yǒng) — (negative connotation) to instigate, to incite, to urge (someone to do something unwise or wrong)

Definition

怂恿 means to urge someone toward something unwise or harmful — always negative. Unlike 鼓励 or 激励 (positive encouragement) and weaker than 催促 (just pressing someone), it implies bad influence.

verb
(negative connotation) to instigateto inciteto urge (someone to do something unwise or wrong)

Examples

  • 怂恿。
    Tā péng you sǒng yǒng tā qù dǔ bó.
    His friend instigated him to gamble.
  • 怂恿。
    Nǐ bié sǒng yǒng wǒ qù zuò nà zhǒng wéi fǎ de shì.
    Don't incite me to do that kind of illegal thing.
  • 怂恿，。
    Dōu shì nǐ sǒng yǒng tā cí zhí de, xiàn zài tā zhǎo bú dào gōng zuò.
    It was you who urged her to resign, and now she can't find a job.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

怂sǒng
恿yǒng

The characters 怂 and 恿 carry no separate meaning here; together they express the idea of urging someone.

Sound-only characters

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 慫; 怂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
從
從cóng慫sǒng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 慫 pairs 心 (heart) with 從 for its sound; the simplified 怂 is a later shorthand.

Open 怂 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
甬
甬yǒng恿
Same sound today

恿 puts 心, meaning heart, below 甬, which is used to show its sound.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Communication & Speech

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