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惭愧 (cán kuì) — ashamed, apologetic (about one's own inadequacy or fault)

Definition

惭愧 (cánkuì) is the formal, written word for feeling ashamed of one's own inadequacy or failure — softer and more self-directed than 羞耻 or 羞愧, which emphasize moral shame. Unlike 害羞 or 难为情, it is not used for social shyness.

adjective
ashamedapologetic (about one's own inadequacy or fault)

Examples

  • ，惭愧。
    Tīng dào tā de biǎo yáng, wǒ fǎn ér jué de hěn cán kuì.
    Hearing his praise, I on the contrary felt quite ashamed.
  • ，惭愧。
    Méi néng bāng shàng nǐ de máng, wǒ shí fēn cán kuì.
    Not being able to help, I feel very apologetic.
  • 惭愧！。
    cán kuì! Zhè diǎn xiǎo shì dōu zuò bù hǎo.
    I feel so ashamed — can't even handle this little task.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

惭cánashamed
愧kuìashamed

惭 and 愧 both mean ashamed, reinforcing the feeling of shame.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 慚; 惭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
斬
斬zhǎn慚cán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 慚 writes 心, heart, beside 斬, which gave the sound; the simplified 惭 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not the historical part.

Open 惭 →

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
鬼
鬼guǐ愧kuì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

愧 has 心, the heart, on the left and 鬼 on the right. 鬼 gives the sound, while 心 shows that the meaning is a feeling in the heart.

Open 愧 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 5Emotions & Feelings

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