拙作 (zhuō zuò) — (humble expression) my poor writing / my clumsy work

Definition

拙作 (zhuō zuò) is a humble self-reference meaning 'my (poor) work', used by writers, artists, or students to modestly refer to their own writing or creation — similar in tone to 愚见 ('my humble opinion').

noun
(humble expression) my poor writing / my clumsy work

Examples

  • 拙作，。
    Zhè shì wǒ de xīn zhuō zuò, qǐng nín duō duō zhǐ jiào.
    This is my new humble work. Please give me your comments.
  • 拙作，。
    Zhè piān zhuō zuò xiě dé bù hǎo, qǐng bié jiàn xiào.
    This clumsy piece of writing is not good — please don't laugh at it.
  • 拙作，。
    Zuó tiān wǒ bǎ zhuō zuò fā gěi le lǎo shī, tā tí le yì xiē jiàn yì.
    Yesterday I sent my humble work to the teacher, and he gave me some suggestions.

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.

拙zhuōclumsy
作zuòwork

拙 means clumsy, 作 means work or writing, and the pairing modestly labels one's own effort.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
出
出chū拙zhuō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拙 has 扌 (手, hand) on the left and 出 on the right, which gives the sound.

Open 拙 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

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