扎手 (zhā shǒu) — prickly (to the touch), thorny; (figurative) tricky, thorny (of a problem or situation)

Definition

Used for things that physically prick the hand (thorns, cactus) and, figuratively, for problems that are awkward or tricky to deal with. Always describes the object/situation itself, never a person.

adjective
prickly (to the touch)thorny(figurative) trickythorny (of a problem or situation)

Examples

  • 扎手，。
    Zhè zhǒng xiān rén zhǎng hěn zhā shǒu, xiǎo xīn bié pèng dào.
    This kind of cactus is very prickly — be careful not to touch it.
  • 扎手，。
    Zhè ge àn zi hěn zhā shǒu, lián lǎo lǜ shī dōu jué de nán bàn.
    This case is very thorny — even the veteran lawyer finds it hard to handle.
  • ，，扎手。
    Bié pèng nà gēn shù zhī, shàng miàn yǒu cì, hěn zhā shǒu.
    Don't touch that branch — it has thorns and is very prickly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

扎zhāprick
手shǒuhand

扎 (prick) and 手 (hand) give the sense of pricking the hand.

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
手手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
乙
乙yǐ扎zhā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

扎 is built from 手 (hand) and 乙, which gives the sound.

Open 扎 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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