改扮 (gǎi bàn) — to disguise (oneself), to dress up as

Definition

改扮 (gǎi bàn) means to disguise oneself by changing one's appearance or clothes, often as part of a mission or role-play. It specifically pairs with 成 to mark the target identity (改扮成…).

verb
to disguise (oneself)to dress up as

Examples

  • 改扮。
    Tā gǎi bàn chéng lǎo rén hùn jìn le huì chǎng.
    He disguised himself as an old man and sneaked into the venue.
  • ，改扮。
    Wèi le rèn wu, tā gǎi bàn chéng yì míng hù shi.
    For the mission, she disguised herself as a nurse.
  • 改扮。
    Yǎn yuán xū yào gǎi bàn chéng gè zhǒng jué sè.
    Actors need to disguise themselves as various roles.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

改gǎialter
扮bàndress up

改 (alter) and 扮 (dress up) combine: the word means to dress oneself in an altered way.

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
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì改gǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early form of 改 paired 巳 as a sound part with 攴 as a meaning part; the sound part later changed.

Open 改 →

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shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
分
分fēn扮bàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

扮 pairs 扌 (hand, written in full as 手) with 分, which gives its sound.

Open 扮 →

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