捣乱 (dǎo luàn) — to cause trouble, to make a disturbance, to dis… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

捣乱 means to deliberately cause trouble or disrupt, usually as a one-off action by a person (especially a child). Lighter than 闹事 (which implies a public incident) and less systematic than 骚扰 (repeated harassment).

verb

to cause troubleto make a disturbanceto disrupt

Examples

捣乱，。
Bié zài zhè lǐ dǎo luàn, dà jiā dōu zài gōng zuò.
Don't cause trouble here — everyone is working.
，。
Tā gù yì dǎo le yí cì luàn, bǎ huì yì gǎo zá le.
He deliberately caused trouble once and ruined the meeting.
捣乱，。
Bié gěi lǎo shī dǎo luàn, hǎo hǎo shàng kè.
Don't cause trouble for the teacher — attend class properly.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

捣dǎostir up

乱luàntrouble

捣 means to stir up, and 乱 means disorder; together they mean to make 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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 搗; 捣 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

手手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

島

島dǎo搗dǎo

Same sound today

The traditional form 搗 pairs 手 (hand) with 島 as a sound part; the simplified 捣 is a shorthand, so its right side is not the original sound part.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 亂; 乱 is its simplified writing.

𤔔乚亂

Meaning part形符xíngfú

乚Written in full as乙yǐ

Sound part声符shēngfú

𤔔

𤔔𤔔亂luàn

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

The traditional form 亂 contains 𤔔, a drawing of combing tangled threads, and 乙; the simplified 乱 is only a later shorthand, not the historical shape.

Appears in

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

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