怪癖 (guài pǐ) — eccentricity; strange habit or personal quirk | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A 'quirk' or 'eccentricity' — a strange personal habit that others find odd. It refers to a lasting, individual trait (e.g. collecting old newspapers), not a temporary hobby or a strong interest like 爱好.

noun

eccentricitystrange habit or personal quirk

Examples

怪癖，。
Tā yǒu yí gè qí guài de guài pǐ, xǐ huan shōu jí jiù bào zhǐ.
He has a strange eccentricity: he likes to collect old newspapers.
怪癖，。
Měi gè rén dōu yǒu zì jǐ de guài pǐ, wǒ men yīng gāi hù xiāng zūn zhòng.
Everyone has their own quirks; we should respect each other.
怪癖。
Tā de guài pǐ ràng tā hěn nán jiāo dào péng you.
His eccentricity makes it hard for him to make friends.

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.

怪guàistrange

怪 means strange and 癖 means a habit or obsession, so the word denotes an odd personal habit.

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.

忄圣怪

Meaning part形符xíngfú

忄Written in full as心xīn

Sound part声符shēngfú

圣

圣shèng怪guài

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

怪 is built from 忄, a form of 心, which relates to mind or feeling, and 圣, which gives the sound.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

疒辟癖

Meaning part形符xíngfú

疒Written in full as病bìng

Sound part声符shēngfú

辟

辟pì癖pǐ

Same sound today

癖 is made of 疒 (written in full as 病, an illness form) and 辟, which gives the sound.

Appears in

Personality & Traits

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