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淫秽 (yín huì) — obscene; salacious

Definition

A formal, written word for obscene or pornographic content — commonly used in legal and media contexts (e.g. 淫秽信息). Avoid for everyday speech.

verb
obscenesalacious

Examples

  • 淫秽。
    Zhè bù xiǎo shuō zhōng yǒu bù shǎo yín huì de nèi róng.
    This novel contains quite a bit of obscene content.
  • 淫秽。
    Jǐng fāng chá huò le yì pī yín huì guāng pán.
    The police seized a batch of obscene discs.
  • 淫秽。
    Chuán bō yín huì xìn xī shì wéi fǎ de.
    Disseminating obscene information is illegal.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

淫yínlicentious
秽huìfoul

淫 suggests licentiousness and 秽 suggests filth, together describing obscene content.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㸒
㸒㸒淫yín
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape combines 氵 (the water form of 水) with 㸒, which supplies the sound.

Open 淫 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 穢; 秽 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾hégrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
歲
歲suì穢⁰huì
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 穢 pairs 禾 (grain) with 歲, which gave the sound; the simplified 秽 is a shorthand, and its right side is not the historical sound part.

Open 秽 →
Appears in
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