欺负 (qī fu) — to bully, to pick on, to push around | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

欺负 means to bully or push someone around through words or actions, often repeatedly against a weaker person. It focuses on power-based mistreatment, not deception (欺骗) or verbal humiliation (侮辱).

verb

to bullyto pick onto push around

Examples

，欺负。
Zài xué xiào lǐ, tā jīng cháng qī fu xīn lái de tóng xué.
At school, he often bullies the new students.
欺负，。
Tā men zǒng shì qī fu lǎo shi rén, tài guò fèn le.
They always pick on honest people; it's too much.
欺负，。
Wǒ zài wǎng shàng yě bèi bié rén qī fu guò, gǎn jué hěn nán shòu.
I was bullied online by others, and it felt terrible.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

负fùtreat badly

欺 (bully) and 负 (treat badly) combine to mean bully.

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.

其欠欺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

欠欠qiànbreath

Sound part声符shēngfú

其

其qí欺qī

Same sound today

欺 is made of 其, which gives its sound, and 欠, which means breath.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 負; 负 is its simplified writing.

⺈人rénperson
貝貝bèicowry

The traditional form 負 combines 人 (person) and 貝 (cowry), with 人 written as ⺈; the simplified 负 is a later abbreviation.

Appears in

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