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粗心大意 (cū xīn dà yì) — careless, negligent, inattentive

Definition

A four-character set phrase meaning 'careless' — emphasizes both inattention (粗心) and a casual, dismissive attitude (大意). More negative than 马虎, which is milder; 草率 stresses acting too hastily rather than overlooking details.

phrase
carelessnegligentinattentive

Examples

  • 粗心大意，。
    Tā yīn wèi cū xīn dà yì, bǎ zhòng yào de wén jiàn nòng diū le.
    He was careless and lost the important document.
  • 粗心大意，。
    Zuò rèn hé shì dōu bù néng cū xīn dà yì, fǒu zé huì chū wèn tí.
    You must not be careless in anything, or problems will arise.
  • ，粗心大意。
    Zhè jiàn shì fēi cháng zhòng yào, qiān wàn cū xīn dà yì bù dé.
    This matter is extremely important; you absolutely must not be careless.

Origin

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě粗cū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

粗 pairs 米 (rice), which points to its meaning, with 且, which gives a clue to its sound.

Open 粗 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set PhrasesPersonality & Traits

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