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搞臭 (gǎo chòu) — to discredit; to bring into disrepute; to put to shame (by ruining reputation)

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning to deliberately destroy someone's reputation through rumors or scandal — literally 'make (smell) stinky.' Common in news and political contexts, stronger than simple 'to criticize.'

verb
to discreditto bring into disreputeto put to shame (by ruining reputation)

Examples

  • 搞臭。
    Tā yīn wèi tān wū bèi gǎo chòu le.
    He was discredited because of corruption.
  • 搞臭。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī gù yì zhì zào yáo yán lái gǎo chòu jìng zhēng duì shǒu.
    This company deliberately spread rumors to discredit its competitors.
  • 搞臭。
    Tā men xiǎng jìn bàn fǎ gǎo chòu duì fāng de míng shēng.
    They tried every means to ruin the other party's reputation.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

搞gǎodo
臭chòustink

搞 means to do or make, while 臭 gives the result: making someone's reputation stink, i.e. discrediting them.

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
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.

Open 搞 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

臭 combines 自 (nose) and 犬 (dog), referring to a dog's strong sense of smell; it originally meant 'to smell'.

Open 臭 →
Appears in
Conflict & Agreement

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