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疏忽 (shū hu) — to neglect; to overlook; to be negligent

Definition

疏忽 means failing to notice or attend to something you should have — often a duty, detail, or risk. It is more serious than 忽视/忽略 (a deliberate dismissal) and overlaps with 过失, which is the resulting fault itself.

verb
to neglectto overlookto be negligent

Examples

  • 疏忽，。
    Tā shū hu le ān quán jiǎn chá, chū le dà wèn tí.
    He neglected the safety check, causing a big problem.
  • 疏忽。
    Qiān wàn bù néng shū hu zhè cì jī huì.
    Be sure not to overlook this opportunity.
  • 疏忽，。
    Wǒ shū hu le nǐ de tí xǐng, hěn bào qiàn.
    I overlooked your reminder; I'm sorry.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

疏shūcareless
忽hūdisregard

疏 and 忽 both mean neglecting or being careless, so together they express overlooking something.

Characters in this word

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

  • 疋疋pǐ
  • 㐬㐬㐬

The form 疏 combines 㐬 with 疋, where 疋 supplies the sound.

Open 疏 →

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
勿
勿wù忽hū
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

忽 combines 心, meaning heart, and 勿, used for its sound.

Open 忽 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Thinking & Cognition

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