政敌 (zhèng dí) — political opponent | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

political opponent

Measure word · 个

Examples

政敌。
Tā zài jìng xuǎn zhōng jī bài le suǒ yǒu zhèng dí.
He defeated all his political opponents in the election.
政敌。
Zhè wèi zǒng tǒng yǔ tā de zhèng dí zhǎn kāi le jī liè biàn lùn.
The president engaged in a heated debate with his political opponent.
政敌。
zhèng dí Gōng kāi pī píng le zhèng fǔ de jué cè.
The political opponent publicly criticized the government's decision.

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.

政zhèngpolitics

政 marks politics and 敌 means enemy, so the word names a political opponent.

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pūaction

Sound part声符shēngfú

正

正zhèng政zhèng

Same sound today

政 combines 正, which gives the sound, with 攴, an action-related 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 敵; 敌 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

攴攴pūto tap; to hit

Sound part声符shēngfú

啻

啻chì敵dí

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 敵 pairs 啻 as a sound part with 攴, a part for tapping or hitting.

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.