混饭 (hùn fàn) — to eat without paying or working; to freeload;…

Definition

Colloquial 离合词 (separable verb) meaning to freeload — eating without paying or just coasting at work for the paycheck. Often appears as 混口饭吃 or 混饭吃.

verb

to eat without paying or workingto freeloadto coast through a job just for the pay

，混饭。
Tā zhěng tiān bù gàn huó, jiù zhī dào dào bié rén jiā hùn fàn.
He does no work all day and just goes to other people's houses to freeload.
，。
Zhè fèn gōng zuò gōng zī bù gāo, zhǐ néng hùn kǒu fàn chī.
This job doesn't pay much — just enough to scrape by.
，。
Tā zài zhè jiā gōng sī hùn le sān nián fàn, shén me běn shì dōu méi xué dào.
He coasted at this company for three years without learning any skills.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

混 means to get by, and 饭 is the meal, so 混饭 describes freeload or coasting for food.

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.

氵昆混

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐ

Sound part声符shēngfú

昆

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

混 pairs 氵 (water) on the left with 昆 on the right, which supplies the sound.

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 飯; 饭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

反

Same sound today

The traditional form 飯 combines 食 (food) with 反 for the sound; the simplified 饭 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical form.

Appears in