歹徒 (dǎi tú) — gangster; criminal; evildoer | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

歹徒 is a noun for a violent criminal, especially a robber or thief. Closer to 流氓 ('hoodlum') than to the neutral 罪犯 ('criminal' in legal terms).

noun

gangstercriminalevildoer

Measure word · 个

Examples

歹徒。
Jǐng fāng zhèng zài zhuī bǔ yì míng chí qiāng dǎi tú.
The police are pursuing an armed gangster.
歹徒。
Zhè xiē dǎi tú zài shēn yè qiǎng jié le yì jiā shāng diàn.
These criminals robbed a store late at night.
，歹徒。
Jù bào dào, sān míng dǎi tú yǐ bèi zhuā huò.
According to reports, three gangsters have been captured.

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.

徒túfollower; person

歹 means evil and 徒 denotes a follower or person, together naming an evildoer or gangster.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

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

辵辵chuòwalk

Sound part声符shēngfú

土

土tǔ徒tú

Same sound today

徒 originally paired 辵, a walking sign, with 土 to show its sound. The shape later changed into 彳 and 走.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 HSK 2.0 Level 6 Crime & Police

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