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敌视 (dí shì) — to be hostile towards; to regard as an enemy

Definition

敌视 means to treat someone as an enemy — hostile in attitude, more intense than 蔑视 ('despise/look down on'), which judges a person as beneath you rather than opposing them.

verb
to be hostile towardsto regard as an enemy

Examples

  • 敌视。
    Tā men hù xiāng dí shì duì fāng.
    They are hostile towards each other.
  • 敌视。
    Bú yào dí shì bù tóng yì jiàn de rén.
    Don't be hostile towards people with different opinions.
  • ，敌视。
    Liǎng guó guān xì jǐn zhāng, hù xiāng dí shì.
    The relations between the two countries are tense, and they regard each other as enemies.

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.

敌díenemy
视shìview

敌 supplies the idea of an enemy and 视 the act of regarding, so the word means to look at someone as an enemy.

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.

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.

Open 敌 →

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 視; 视 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
示
示shì視shì
Same sound today

The story is about the traditional form 視: it combines 見, meaning see, with 示, which gives the sound shì.

Open 视 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Conflict & AgreementEmotions & Feelings

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