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暴发户 (bào fā hù) — upstart; parvenu; someone who has recently become wealthy but lacks refinement

Definition

A derogatory term for someone who suddenly got rich but lacks culture and taste. Implies the person is uncultured and pretentious, not merely 'newly wealthy'.

noun
upstartparvenusomeone who has recently become wealthy but lacks refinement
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，暴发户。
    Tā mǎi le hěn duō shē chǐ pǐn, huó xiàng gè bào fā hù.
    He bought a lot of luxury goods, just like an upstart.
  • 暴发户，。
    Nà ge bào fā hù suī rán yǒu qián, dàn dà jiā dōu qiáo bù qǐ tā.
    That parvenu has money, but everyone looks down on him.
  • ，暴发户。
    Tā jiā de zhuāng xiū fēng gé tài kuā zhāng, yí kàn jiù shì bào fā hù.
    His home decoration style is too overdone; you can tell he's a nouveau riche.

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.

暴发suddenly become wealthy
暴bàosuddenly发fābecome wealthy
偏正Modifier + head
户hùhousehold

暴发 suddenly wealthy and 户 household combine to mean a newly rich household.

Characters in this word

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

The earliest form paired 虎 and 戈, a tiger and a weapon. The later 暴 came from a picture of hands drying something in the sun.

Open 暴 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戶; 户 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 戶 is a picture of half of a gate. The simplified 户 is a later shorthand, so its shape should not be read as the original parts.

Open 户 →
Appears in
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