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煎熬 (jiān áo) — to suffer (mentally); to torment, to agonize

Definition

煎熬 (jiān áo) means to suffer prolonged mental torment — 'agonize', 'be in agony' — emphasizing the drawn-out, internal kind rather than active pain. 折磨 focuses on what others inflict; 受苦 on hardship; 熬 alone is the verb 'to endure'.

verb
to suffer (mentally)to tormentto agonize

Examples

  • 煎熬。
    Tā nèi xīn jiān áo le hěn jiǔ.
    He suffered internally for a long time.
  • 煎熬。
    Zhè zhǒng zhé mó zhēn jiān áo rén.
    This kind of torment really tortures people.
  • 煎熬。
    Bú yào ràng shī bài de guò qù jiān áo zì jǐ.
    Don't let past failures torment yourself.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

煎jiānfry
熬áostew

煎 and 熬 both describe long cooking over heat, giving the sense of enduring pain.

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
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
前
前qián煎jiān
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

煎 is built from 前, which gives the sound, and 火, fire, for meanings involving heat.

Open 煎 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 熬 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Emotions & Feelings

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