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性骚扰 (xìng sāo rǎo) — sexual harassment

Definition

noun
sexual harassment

Examples

  • ，性骚扰。
    Gōng sī chū tái le yí xiàng xīn zhèng cè, yán jìn rèn hé xíng shì de xìng sāo rǎo.
    The company introduced a new policy strictly prohibiting any form of sexual harassment.
  • 性骚扰。
    Shòu hài zhě gǔ qǐ yǒng qì jǔ bào le xìng sāo rǎo xíng wéi.
    The victim gathered the courage to report the sexual harassment.
  • 性骚扰。
    Fǎ lǜ míng què guī dìng le xìng sāo rǎo de dìng yì hé chǔ fá.
    The law clearly defines sexual harassment and its penalties.

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.

性xìngsex
骚扰harassment
骚sāodisturb扰rǎodisturb
联合Coordinate

“性” gives the sexual aspect, and “骚扰” combines “骚” and “扰” to convey disturbing, harassing conduct.

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
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng性xìng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

性 is built from 忄 (the heart) and 生 (a sound clue). The heart part connects the word to a person's inner nature or quality.

Open 性 →

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 騷; 骚 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
蚤
蚤zǎo騷sāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 騷 pairs 馬 (horse) with 蚤 as a sound component; the simplified 骚 is a shorthand.

Open 骚 →

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 擾; 扰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
夒
夒náo擾rǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 擾 combines 手 (hand) with 夒, a sound part; the simplified 扰 is a later shorthand, so its visible pieces are not the historical parts.

Open 扰 →
Appears in
Crime & Police

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