窥视 (kuī shì) — to peep at, to spy on (secretly or stealthily)

Definition

窥视 (kuīshì) means to peep or spy on someone secretly and stealthily — often with a sense of prying into private matters.

verb

to peep atto spy on (secretly or stealthily)

Examples

窥视。
Tā duǒ zài chuāng lián hòu miàn kuī shì lín jū de dòng jìng.
He hid behind the curtain and spied on the neighbor's movements.
窥视，。
Bú yào zài bié rén de chuāng hu qián kuī shì, zhè shì bù lǐ mào de.
Don't peep at others' windows; it's rude.
窥视，。
Yǒu rén àn zhōng kuī shì wǒ men de huì yì, xiǎo xīn xíng shì.
Someone is spying on our meeting secretly — be careful in your actions.

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.

窥kuīpeep/spy

视shìlook

窥 means to peep or spy, and 视 means to look; together they mean to look at something secretly.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 窺; 窥 is its simplified writing.

穴規窺

Meaning part形符xíngfú

穴穴xué

Sound part声符shēngfú

規

規guī窺kuī

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

The traditional form 窺 puts 穴 (hole) beside 規, which gives the sound; the simplified 窥 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the historical components.

Open 窥 →

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 視; 视 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

見見jiànsee

Sound part声符shēngfú

示

示shì視shì

Same sound today

The story is about the traditional form 視: it combines 見, meaning see, with 示, which gives the sound shì.

Open 视 →

Appears in