揶揄 (yé yú) — to ridicule, to deride (formal/literary)

Definition

A formal/literary verb meaning 'to ridicule or mock' — typically through subtle, often sarcastic teasing rather than blunt insults. Common in writing and journalism, not in casual speech.

verb
to ridiculeto deride (formal/literary)

Examples

  • 揶揄。
    Tā de chuān zhuó bèi tóng shì yé yú.
    His clothing was ridiculed by colleagues.
  • 揶揄。
    Bú yào yé yú bié rén de quē diǎn.
    Don't ridicule others' shortcomings.
  • 揶揄。
    Zhè piān bào dào duì míng rén jìn xíng le yé yú.
    This report ridiculed celebrities.

Origin

Single-morpheme word
构词法gòucífǎ
联绵liánmiánBound pair

Two characters that only ever appear together, spelling one ancient two-syllable word.

揶yé
揄yú

The characters 揶 and 揄 carry no separate meaning here; together they express ridicule.

Sound-only characters

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
耶
耶yē揶
Same sound today

揶 is built from 扌, the hand part, plus 耶, which gives the sound yē.

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
俞
俞yú揄yú
Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand form 手, and the right part 俞 gives the character 揄 its sound.

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