招风 (zhāo fēng) — to attract trouble by being too conspicuous; to invite trouble through prominence

Definition

招风 (zhāo fēng) literally 'catch the wind' — it means standing out so much that you attract trouble or unwanted attention. Used for people or actions that are too conspicuous.

verb
to attract trouble by being too conspicuousto invite trouble through prominence

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā tài chū míng le, zhāo le bù shǎo fēng.
    He is too famous and has attracted a lot of trouble.
  • 招风。
    Nǐ zhè yàng zuò huì zhāo fēng de.
    Doing this will attract trouble.
  • ，招风。
    Tā zhè me gāo diào, chí zǎo huì zhāo fēng de.
    He is so high-profile; he will attract trouble sooner or later.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

招zhāoattract
风fēngwind

招 (attract) + 风 (wind): standing out enough to catch trouble.

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
召
召zhào招zhāo
Same sound today

招 pairs 扌, the hand part, with 召, which gives the sound, to show beckoning with the hand.

Open 招 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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