搞笑 (gǎo xiào) — (verb) to make people laugh; (adjective) funny,… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

搞笑 as an adjective means 'funny/hilarious' — stronger and more colloquial than 好笑, less formal than 滑稽, and not as dismissive as 可笑. As a verb, it means to act in a way that makes people laugh (tells jokes, does bits).

verb

to make people laugh

adjective

funnyhilarious

Examples

搞笑。
Zhè bù diàn yǐng tè bié gǎo xiào.
This movie is especially hilarious.
搞笑。
Tā jiǎng le yí gè gǎo xiào de gù shi.
He told a funny story.
搞笑，。
Tā zài jù huì shàng gǎo xiào, dà jiā dōu xiào le.
He made people all laughed.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

搞 means to make, and 笑 is laugh, giving the sense of making people laugh.

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.

扌高搞

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

高

高gāo搞gǎo

Same sound today

搞 has 扌, a hand, on the left and 高 on the right; the 高 part gives the sound.

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

Sound part声符shēngfú

艸

艸cǎo笑xiào

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

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Emotions & Feelings

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