暴政 (bào zhèng) — tyranny; despotic rule | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

noun

tyrannydespotic rule

Examples

暴政。
Rén mín zhōng yú tuī fān le bào zhèng.
The people finally overthrew the tyranny.
暴政。
Nà duàn lì shǐ chōng mǎn le bào zhèng hé yā pò.
That period of history was full of tyranny and oppression.
暴政。
bào zhèng Zhī huì dài lái fǎn kàng hé chóu hèn.
Tyranny only brings resistance and hatred.

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 means cruel or violent and 政 means rule, so it names cruel rule.

Characters in this word

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

虎虎hǔtiger
戈戈gēweapon

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.

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.

Appears in

Government & Politics

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