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拖累 (tuō lěi) — to burden, to encumber; to implicate (in a negative situation)

Definition

拖累 emphasizes dragging others down or getting them implicated as a side-effect — distinct from 累赘, which describes a thing that is itself cumbersome. Unlike 负担, 拖累 is typically a verb taking a person or group as object.

verb
to burdento encumberto implicate (in a negative situation)

Examples

  • 拖累，。
    Tā bù xiǎng tuō lěi bié rén, suǒ yǐ zì jǐ chéng dān le suǒ yǒu zé rèn.
    He didn't want to burden others, so he took all the responsibility himself.
  • 拖累。
    Zhè cì shī bài tuō lěi le zhěng gè tuán duì.
    This failure implicated the entire team.
  • 拖累，。
    Nǐ bú yòng dān xīn huì tuō lěi wǒ, wǒ lè yì bāng máng.
    You don't have to worry about burdening me; I'm happy to help.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

拖tuōdrag
累lèiburden

拖 gives dragging and 累 gives burdening, meaning to weigh someone down or implicate them.

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

拖 uses 手 to show an action done with the hand, and 它 to give its sound.

Open 拖 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 累 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

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