TongTong
Sign in

死党 (sǐ dǎng) — (colloquial) best friend, close buddy, BFF; diehard follower, loyalist, partisan

Definition

Colloquial 'BFF / close buddy' — people you've been tight with for years, with an extra sense of fierce loyalty. 粉丝 are casual fans, while 死党 implies personal allegiance and emotional closeness.

noun
(colloquial) best friendclose buddyBFFdiehard followerloyalistpartisan
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 死党，。
    Tā shì wǒ cóng xiǎo yì qǐ zhǎng dà de sǐ dǎng, wǒ men wú huà bù tán.
    She is my best friend I grew up with; we talk about everything.
  • 死党。
    Nà xiē gē shǒu de sǐ dǎng men wèi le ǒu xiàng jī hū bú shuì jiào yě yào qiǎng piào.
    Those fans of the singer stay up almost all night just to grab tickets for their idol.
  • 死党，。
    Zài gōng sī lǐ tā yǒu yì qún sǐ dǎng, wú lùn shén me tí àn dōu wú tiáo jiàn zhī chí tā.
    At the company he has a group of loyal supporters who back every proposal he makes unconditionally.

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.

死sǐdeath
党dǎngclique

死 death and 党 clique combine to mean a clique bound by death, hence diehard followers.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
尸
尸shī死sǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Open 死 →

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
儿儿érhuman
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng党dǎng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

党 pairs 尚, giving its sound, with 儿, a human.

Open 党 →
Appears in
Friends & Social

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