愚蠢 (yú chǔn) — stupid; silly; foolish

Definition

Strong, written word for 'stupid / foolish', often judging a person's ideas or decisions. Sharper and more formal than the everyday 傻; heavier than 笨, which suggests slow-wittedness rather than bad judgment.

adjective
stupidsillyfoolish

Examples

  • 愚蠢？
    Zhè me yú chǔn de wèn tí nǐ yě wèn dé chū lái?
    How can you ask such a stupid question?
  • 愚蠢，。
    Tā zuò le yí gè yú chǔn de jué dìng, jié guǒ sǔn shī le hěn duō qián.
    He made a stupid decision, and as a result he lost a lot of money.
  • 愚蠢，。
    Bié zài shuō yú chǔn de huà le, dà jiā dōu bù xǐ huan nǐ zhè yàng.
    Stop saying stupid things — everyone dislikes you when you act like this.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

愚yúfoolish
蠢chǔnfoolish

愚 and 蠢 both mean “foolish,” so together they intensify the idea of being stupid.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
禺
禺yú愚yú
Same sound today

愚 pairs 心 (heart) with 禺 for the sound; the heart part relates to the sense of foolishness.

Open 愚 →

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
䖵䖵䖵insects
Sound part声符shēngfú
春
春chūn蠢chǔn
Same sound today

蠢 pairs 䖵 (insects) with 春 as a sound part.

Open 蠢 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Personality & Traits2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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