水军 (shuǐ jūn) — paid online posters / Internet water army / online astroturfers

Definition

Internet slang for paid online posters hired to flood comment sections with fake reviews or steer public opinion. Not the same as 海军 (navy).

noun
paid online posters / Internet water army / online astroturfers

Examples

  • 水军。
    Zhè jiā gōng sī gù le hěn duō shuǐ jūn lái shuā hǎo píng.
    This company hired a lot of paid posters to boost positive reviews.
  • 水军，。
    Píng lùn lǐ quán shì shuǐ jūn, méi shén me zhēn shí yì jiàn.
    The comments are full of paid posters — there are hardly any genuine opinions.
  • 水军。
    Zhè cì shì jiàn míng xiǎn yǒu shuǐ jūn zài dài jié zòu.
    This incident clearly involved paid posters manipulating the narrative.

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.

水shuǐwater
军jūnarmy

水 is water and 军 is army, originally a navy and now a paid online group.

Characters in this word

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

  • 車車jūcart; chariot
  • 勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →

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