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挑衅 (tiǎo xìn) — to provoke, to taunt

Definition

挑衅 (tiǎoxìn) means to deliberately provoke or taunt someone, often to start conflict. Stronger than 刺激 ('irritate, stimulate'); unlike 挑拨, you aim the act at one person, not to sow group discord.

verb
to provoketo taunt

Examples

  • 挑衅。
    Tā gù yì shuō nà xiē huà lái tiǎo xìn wǒ.
    He deliberately said those things to provoke me.
  • 挑衅。
    Duì fāng qiú yuán míng xiǎn zài tiǎo xìn wǒ men.
    The opposing player is clearly provoking us.
  • 挑衅。
    Bú yào yòng zhè zhǒng yǔ qì tiǎo xìn bié rén.
    Don't provoke others with that tone of voice.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

挑tiāoprovoke
衅xìntrouble

挑 means provoke and 衅 means trouble; together they mean provoking 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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
兆
兆zhào挑tiāo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

挑 has 手, meaning hand, and 兆, which gives the sound.

Open 挑 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Conflict & Agreement

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